PARIP 2005

International Conference | 29 June - 03 July 2005

Briginshaw: Valerie | UK

www.embamb.com

Website Screening and Discussion

Prof. Valerie Briginshaw & Dr. Emilyn Claid

Embodying Ambiguities explored the relations between choreographed performance and theoretical writing as two forms of practice based research running in parallel with one another. The aims of the project focused on the ways in which thought moves between dancing and writing, involving memory, reflection, repetition and recognition. A trilogy of performances and a wide range of written material were produced that provoked different ways of understanding space and time. Shared knowledges of anti-dualism stimulated and shifted the processes and performances of dancing and writing. The project revealed creative tensions between choreography and writing that enriched the discourses. The individual act of writing contrasted the shared collaborative act of making dance performance. The ways of looking at dance from the perspectives of choreographer and writer exposed how time was employed differently within each practice.

The performances Shiver Rococo (1999), No Bodies Baby (2002) and Remember to Forget (2003) were created as the core of the project. Although different in style and content the performances presented contrasting aspects of the same research questions. How does the body of a performer play between identity and ambiguity in performance? How do performers share a similar frame of reference yet refuse to homogenise difference? How is movement choreographed to be multi-directional with no single front? How does this play of space affect a performer’s presence? How are the relations of performer and spectator influenced by the structure of differently configured space and time in performance? These questions were addressed through devised performance making, codified dance, movement languages, narratives and theatrical images. All three pieces were constructed in the round to be seen from multiple perspectives.

The written research embraced philosophical and other theoretical writing. Particularly relevant were Merleau-Ponty's ideas about embodiment and body/mind processes that are essentially anti-dualistic. Irigaray's critique of his work from a feminist perspective highlighted the role that gender plays in embodiment. Because Irigaray's work remains, to a certain extent, dualistic, the research engaged with Deleuze and Guattari whose writings go beyond dualism and presents a model of ‘thinking as movement’ concerned with reconfigured notions of space and time. Bergson's studies of memory from an anti-dualistic position, which have informed the work of Deleuze, were also relevant given the important role that memory plays in the movement of thought. As the project progressed, other writings came into play particularly those of the feminist philosopher, Adriana Caverero and those of Michel de Certeau in relation to the role of narrative, which was particularly pertinent in No Bodies Baby.

www.embamb.com draws together the processes and products that provided the ongoing stimulus for the research. Accumulating and editing the material has revealed the depth and breadth of the knowledge gained and provides the starting points for future work. For the PARIP presentation Valerie and Emilyn will share these findings through an illustrative play of the website.

Embodying Ambiguities (1999-2004) was funded by Arts & Humanities Research Board