Video Footage

After having posted my blogs regarding the Re:Generations conference, I decided to create a video of some of the footage I gathered over the three days. I hope people enjoy reading my blog posts and have managed to gather some information from what I've shared. Watching clips through the digital form of YouTube, not only links to the theme of technology that has been highlighted upon throughout the conference, but also allows you as the readers to have a different perspective on the experience as opposed to simply reading. Hopefully, this will give you an indication into the lively atmosphere I experienced whilst also appreciating the art.

Here I have attached the link...

https://youtu.be/RrihUkbYmeA

Enjoy!

Day Three - Re:Generations

A common theme of the opening ceremonies has focused our thoughts on positive change of which we should aim to commit to. The speaker presenting the keynote was Amanda Spann who’s work focused on entrepreneurial uses of technology. Having limited knowledge in dance, her views towards the arts were different- how to make money from using our creative skills. She began by suggesting some agreements that we should abide to in order to remain in an optimistic mind frame. ‘I am worthy’ being the first one suggesting that every individual adds value to the world. ‘The world is abundant’ suggests we can find our own audiences and finally ‘Be ready to receive’ implies we should be open to new insights and suggestions. Spann’s work consists of utilising technology to create an impact and therefore change lives. She then spoke about key areas into ways you can change your digital use in order to easily make money in a short amount of time. Firstly, we looked at the popular search engine, YouTube. Owned by Google, it is the second most used search engine, following Google itself and is used by 3 billion web users per month. In order to maximise views, we need to target the particular audience who will be passionate towards what our video is showing, those most likely to respond with employment opportunities. For your video to rise in rankings, the key words you use will determine the popularity of the search, so using words that are less common will optimise your visibility. Spann then went on to discuss the success of AirBnB Experiences. This site has 150 million users and the UK users are the 5^th largest market on the site. Due to the 295% increase in the use of this site in the last year, it has the ability to generate revenue for its sales given from the site. An example that was used which the participants at the conference found shocking, was a silent disco yoga instructor named Emma from California. Her experience offered attendance at this one-hour session cost forty five dollars which she took 5 times a week and had 50 participants per class. From doing the maths, Emma earnt over eleven thousand dollars for working five hours a week. She only had to pay out for the headphones as her participants bring everything else that is required, and it’s taken on a public beach meaning she doesn’t need to pay for rental. This is a clear example of how artist can continue their craft without being cost prohibited. Overall, I found this presentation very informative in relation to dance being promoted and shared through the digital space.

Following on from this, I attended a presentation discussing dance research from two practioners who presented their findings from two different African cultures. Dr S Kwashie Kuwor works at the University of Ghana whereas Aminah Namakula presented findings from within her Ugandan roots. Kuwor began by questioning how we research dance suggesting in African cultures it isn’t just about performing for entertainment but also because of people’s values and virtues surrounding the meaning of dance. This therefore implies we can only give a representation of what dance is, supported by Hall (1997) who states, ‘in every culture, there is always a great diversity of meanings about any topic and more than one way of interpreting or representing it’. Kuwor then went on to suggest the four ways in which African dance has a holistic nature. These include; movement, rhythm, design and kinaesthetic senses. Having multisensory modalities implies the dance comes from inside the dancer’s body as well as the physical gestures. Internal feelings being the purpose for dance becomes problematic when relating information to the digital space as emotions cannot be explained via words or videos. We were left with the thought, ‘who qualifies to digitalise people’s art?’. Questioning this different perspective made me consider why I myself dance and how I would present my work through digital communications.

I was interested to find out, as Namakula spoke, that within the country of Uganda, the key body part your dance focuses on determines whereabouts in the country your roots belong to. Using her drum to create beats, we marched to different rhythmic patterns that she demonstrated using a simple sequence of steps and hip motions. Completing this practical exercise, I found it easier to understand the movements that were being explained as well as getting enjoyment from participating in trying out her traditional African style.




After lunch, I attended three performance based presentations. The first display used a created digital circle to enhance the meanings behind Dr Adesola Akinleye and Harry Fulleylove’s performance. Using the idea of representing black women in the city allowed them to perform a piece where their projections were casting shadows on the wall through digital technologies. Appearing in multicolours on the wall suggests how everyone’s shadow is the same and that it can be controlled by the movements we chose to create. Urban design allows new architecture to be created but places are changed using design tools to create new engagements suggesting they are not reinvented. This idea relates to their performance by showing how the space didn’t changed but instead was filled with their choreography.

Following this, Gesel Mason presented her work on the project, No Boundaries. In 2004, she worked with black choreographers to produce a performance consisting of seven solos ranging from old and new choreography. This project was then repeated in 2017 as she felt she needed to capture important stories created from dance before significant influencers passed. Mason hoped that by getting the footage, it would not only create an archive but also inspire those working on dance history such as scholars and students. Using well known black choreographers was important but also, she gave opportunities to experimental choreographers to gain exposure. Her work supports the notion of using digital technologies by also stating that displaying work through a camera can offer the viewers a different perspective than a live audience can gain with close up camera angles.

Finally, Molly Christie Gonzalez presented her research into the Dunham technique, having been taught by Dunham herself. Gonzalez presented her experiences from attending her classes, saying that Dunham would stop students mid-exercise and ask them to question why they are here, leading them to then continue performing the exercise but with a different perspective. Dunham was passionate about philosophical teaching as well as physical training because she found that giving dancers reasoning behind their movements would made their dance more purposeful.




To end the day, we attended an International Mixed Bill Performance. This consisted of four contrasting performances, each had an individual theme. As like yesterday’s showcase, there were numbers that I personally felt had more of an impact than others, those of which I will comment upon. Axam Dance Theatre Experience from the USA presented a choreography named ‘Sisters’. This piece demonstrated emotions of three female dancers and their journey through happiness to insanity whilst also representing their close relationship shown through their facial expressions and physical closeness. The audience truly felt the emotions portrayed from the dancers, creating a warm atmosphere, also helped by the colourful dresses they wore and bright stage lights. The final piece was choreographed and composed by Zab Maboungou from Canada and cleverly used the music to clearly inspire the creation of the gestures. Having the drums on stage alongside the dancers, not only helps both the dancers and drummers to stay in time but also represented the significance of the rhythms upon the choreography.




To end the conference, Zab Maboungou left us with an insightful quote, ‘Dance is as mysterious as it is common’…




My time at Re:Generations has left me with many new thoughts and ideas around the way I perceive the arts and the creative impact I can allow myself. As well as this I have learnt a lot regarding the African dance culture as well as the impacts the digital age hold upon creatives. I have also been fortunate enough to meet and learn from many dance practitioners throughout the conference and I’m thankful to have been offered this opportunity.



I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog posts. If you have any further questions, please comment.

Day Two - Re:Generations

Day 2… Began with reflection of yesterday’s learning over what we individually thought was most important. We were made aware of the differences between external motivation representing short term changes and internal motivation implying the long-term motivations we should strive to change an aspect of how we think, ideally our key learning should be internalised.




The keynote today was given by Dr Thomas F. DeFrantz who spoke about ‘Dancing the Afrofuture’. For me personally, this presentation doesn’t have much relation towards my particular practise, however I did take away some key ideas that were presented which I am going to bullet point below:

·        Cultural divides can determine how individuals communicate through dance.

·        In the US, teaching dance is respected for sustainability of a working dancer. It could be a transitioning job or the dancer’s entire career.

·        The idea of post human critique combines science fiction and fantasy. It suggests humans will turn less human and be more focused on being seen as strands of data to create a whole being.

·        We need to bend the ability of technology- that’s how styles such as hip hop and jazz were created as they bent the classics.

·        Despite religion/ disabilities/ beliefs these don’t determine your choice on what you do with your body. If you want to create art that is entirely up to the individual as they master their thoughts.

The next talk focused on the results of a survey mapping the dance of the African Diaspora (DAD), created by One Dance UK, using survey money to create the results of the map and findings. London was found to be the major hub where most respondents came from. ‘Contemporary’ was the practise dominating the sector with over 50% participants describing their practise in this way. The survey asked what support is most needed within the arts and funding was the biggest desire. It was also said safe spaces were limited, especially for those emerging dancers. There were six emerging themes that were created from the maps results:

1.      Visibility/ Platforms – to increase the understanding of cultural dance.

2.      Sustainability/ Funding – lack of awareness towards the arts.

3.      Marketing/ Promotions – digital communications and offer audience development.

4.      Education/ Training – desire from more engagement, especially with younger individuals.

5.      Legacy/ Archive – being able to create a history of the DAD.

6.      Knowledge/ Networks – creating collaborations.

We were then able to choose one of these themes and attend a more intimate talk around the topic. I decided to go to the education/ training discussion lead by Dr Funmi Adewole because I felt this would be most relevant to my personal practise having just come out of full-time training. Here we talked about how many educational courses in dance simply want to fill numbers due to meeting a certain number of applications for courses to be financed. This has led classes to being overfilled so artists aren’t getting enough attention to perfect their work. We agreed it should maybe be more selective with its applications which would also create a higher standard of artists. Accessibility was highlighted as the centre of the dance world, in the UK particularly, is London making it hard for artists who don’t live near the capital to access resources or jobs. We also spoke about the idea of institutionalised dancers being possibly more successful than technically sound dancers. Having a clear idea of how the industry works could be more important to a dancer entering the competitive industry than actually being a highly skilled dancer in one technique, highlighting how challenging the career can be. The ideas presented here really questioned my own training and made me thankful towards the institution in which I trained in, The Hammond, as I felt I was provided with the essential skills to take on the working world of a dancer.




The most interesting presentation I have attended so far had to be this next one, held by Matthew Wyon from Wolverhampton University who is holding research on injury and physiotherapy on hip hop and break dancers. He commented that although dancing was often low intensity, dancers worked for many hours (more than sportsmen) and had a higher skill range. His research found that performing these specific styles of dance left dancers with similar injuries to those who competed in contact sports. It was picked up that most injuries were due to overload, mainly through difficult choreography or fatigue. A question that was highlighted was whether dancers should push their bodies beyond their boundaries to be able to pull off advanced tricks or if safety should come first. In order to support his finding, Wyon has been using wearable technologies to monitor the science of a dancer whilst they dance. This does come with its limitations however as the equipment does affect the movement range of the dancer, suggesting the accuracy of the results could be lower than ideal. When comparing the results of studying dancers using this wearable technology, the consideration of the dancers training and practise had to be accounted for. For example, ballerinas dance for hours but have major dips in their heart rate as they have breaks throughout the whole show. In comparison, other styles of dance may perform a single dance which could range from half an hour to a few minutes but may be a higher intensity. From his findings, he was able to look closely at the way muscles move which could help in injury prevention as it can explain the reason movements are causing alignment issues. All dancers want to achieve the same movement, for example a double pirouette, however the movement has different effects on different bodies due to postural placement. A selection of dancers were picked and monitored doing a pirouette, all taught by the same teacher. Some pulled of quadruples whereas others only managed one. Each dancer performed it observably different through the computer watching back their turns despite the same instruction. This technology is incredibly useful for dancers as you are able to analyse why a specific movement isn’t working and how it can be improved.

There was only one idea presented by Matthew Wyon that I completely disagreed on. He suggested that dancers should work at 80% and then when coming to performance they have reserved that extra 20% to add on their artistry. I believe in order for dancers to look effortless and to perform to their highest ability, they should consistently be training at 100% in order to be the best artist they can be. I feel this suggestion is quite scientific and in that respect I understand where this idea is coming from, but as a performer myself, I disagree with the notion of not putting your whole energy into your daily practise.




To end the day we were all able to watch an International Mixed Bill Showcase. This contained six performances in total that showed off the African culture through the very core of the conference, dance. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the artists contrasting performances, however only a few stuck in my mind. A dancer named Nafisah Baba showed off two solos. Her incredibly sound technique which appeared to come from ballet/ contemporary allowed her performance to hold great control and flow. Her movements look effortless leaving the audience amazed at the stunning choreography she was able to perform. From the USA, Juel D. Lane and Munir Zakee created an unusual duo of having the DJ on stage alongside the dancer. This allowed the dancer to have more control over the music. The reason this choreography was so interesting was the relation to the sound and how different genres of music were used to express the dancer’s emotions, also enhanced by the fact the dancer had a stocking covering his face so the audience couldn’t physically see his expression. I found this very creative and individual which is why it has stuck in my mind as a memorable piece, highlighting the importance of music to support dance in general.  




Final day of Re:Generations tomorrow- I’m excited to see what is left to explore as well as consolidate my findings throughout this journey of seeking new knowledge towards a different culture.

Day One - Re:Generations

The day began with an interactive opening ceremony. We chanted ‘I- yeh-ooh’ as we followed Dr H Patten and Peter Badejo up the stairs to the Aldridge Studio for the welcoming speech. We were told to celebrate ourselves as individuals as well as appreciating the presence of those around us. Karen Gallagher encouraged us to adopt the ‘power pose’ suggesting that how we hold our bodies impacts our minds, a scientific finding. Gallagher continued then to express the issues with the use of technologies in terms of the goldilocks effect. This suggest that anything we post on social media or even through texts and emails, we can edit our language to the way we want to be perceived by the reader. In relation to dance, through digital viewing, people can copy techniques even if they don’t fully understand the language and meaning behind the movements. This is problematic because they don’t understand the deeper and philosophical reasoning for behind basic techniques. Despite these negatives, there are many advantages to having dance accessible though technology. Although it can’t replace live performance, it can facilitate resources for those who can’t access it.


I then attended a talk, ‘Using the Digital Age to Tell the Human Stories of Dance’. The first half of this discussion was taken by Adesola Akinleye alongside Gonzalo Preciado-Azanza who was able to be there with us via skype call. They spoke about how choreographers use technologies to create work that stretches out beyond the ability of the human body. With a focus on Bill T Jones, Adesola and Gonzalo explained how many of his dancers had experienced trauma which made him look at the meaning of living. In order to make his ideas more effective, Jones used new technologies of lights, set design, sound and costume in order to enhance the dancer’s body. This offered a medium between dance and science. Teaming together, Adesola and Gonzalo used digital communications to create a short dance piece. They used algorithms which they suggested only worked because of their shared understanding of similar cultural interpretations in relation to their dance techniques. I found this so interesting as it challenged the future of dance by showing how collaborations can work in order to create art. The distance between them was used to their advantage as it was a clear theme of the piece.


After lunch, I attended a discussion about the visibility and representation of dance on screen. Susannah Simonds spoke about the company Marquee TV which is a platform on which viewers can access full performances and recordings of arts through paying a subscription. Having arts on demand takes them out of the theatre and puts it on screen, making it very accessible. It additionally creates opportunities for artists, choreographers and filmmakers. Archives can be created which can be used for learning, linking the need for arts to stay a part of the national curriculum. For this to be ensured, resources need to be easily available for both teachers and students so work can be analysed as well as enjoyed. This led onto a presentation by Ghislaine Boddington who works for Body-Data-Space. This looks at the physical self and relates it to our data selves suggesting we have a physical connectiveness through technology. Specifically, digital intimacy was touched upon which I found interesting as a digital dancer named ‘Orla’ was created and involved within live performances. Having a virtual presence on stage creates another level to the art that can’t be shown by dancers alone. Fascinated by the link, I would normally associate technology outside of the performance space but this really shows how there is no restrictions on theatre and it is becoming more and more creative with a mixture of professions all collaborating to produce diverse work.


To end the day, I took part in an Interconnective Training masterclass took by Robert Solomon. This technique focused on movements coming from the core as well as our kinaesthetic perceptions. We started by feeling tension in upper body parts including hands, elbows, shoulders, neck and face, driven by holding in our core, then comparing the feeling with trying to engage these body parts without core activation. This highlighted the importance of using our centre in order to produce powerful movements. Following this, we were taught some floor barre exercises. This focused on our legs and feet. Using extensions and plié as well as ankle mobility, we performed a series of motions that enhanced our turn out. I felt these exercises worked on hip rotation as well as being strengthening. To finish, we leant a short routine that focused on direction and transference of weight. Challenges came when we were asked to perform it double the speed and then with a partner performing it to opposite sides. To finish, Solomon spoke about the importance of the dance space and how it can impact out creative processes, containing energy in the studio space. I found this masterclass gave me a different outlook towards ways of working, in particular the importance of using strength gained from core control.


Answering Chani Allott’s quire, I have found that practitioners within the industry are more open now to using digital forms to enhance performances. This is changing traditions and it is becoming a norm to investigate the use and opportunities technology can create within the arts. This link between dance and technology is important to advance the ability of the human body to create pieces of art that exceed historical expectations.


If anyone has any more questions and quires that they would like me to investigate, please comment below and I will try to answer them within the next two days.