Voice Works II
May 25-29, 2009 - in Ghent (Belgium), S3, Bijlokekaai 1 (>> how to get there)
A week of workshops, discussions, reading sessions, artist talks, presentations, performance-text-sound-film analysis and tasks... all related to the voice, sound and movement. The entire week is curated by Christine De Smedt and Myriam Van Imschoot. The morning workshop is open for professional dancers and advanced dance students. The evening program is open for everybody. Please contact les ballets c de la b for more information or to participate: email or tel +32 (0)9 2217501.
Co-organisation
>> les ballets c de la b
>> Sarma
>> Crash Landing Revisited (and more)
Program
For more information click in the frame you're interested in.
| Monday 25 | Tuesday 26 | Wedsnesday 27 | Thursday 28 | Friday 29 | |
| Morning (10am-1pm) |
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| Afternoon (2pm-6pm) |
Workshop 'Gestural Interfaces: Voice and Movement' by Andrey Smirnov | Text, sound, performance and film analysis + tasks | task-oriented Reading Session 'A voice and nothing more', a book by Mladen Dolar | Text, sound, performance and film analysis + tasks | |
| Evening (8pm-...) |
x | Artist talk and presentation by Andrey Smirnov + public interview about Crash Landing (and more) | x | Film screening | x |
>> bio's of teachers and artists
- Workshop "Practice of the voice and movement through BMC"
Teachers Christine De Smedt & Florence Augendre
For professional dancers and advanced dance students (maximum 15)
75€
Body-Mind Centering is an ongoing exploration of mind and body, developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, applying anatomical, physiological, psychophysical and developmental principles, utilizing movement, touch, voice and mind. In this workshop we will focus on the mechanisms of vocal expression and the interrelation between movement, hearing and speech. The connection between voice and other body systems such as the organs and fluids will be used to produce voice and movement material. We will approach not only our physical voices, but also the cultural established voices. The work will be based on observation, exploration and expression of different experiences. The research is experiential as is the material. As Cohen says: ‘We are each the study, the student, the teacher’. |
De door Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen ontwikkelde methode Body-Mind Centering gaat om de exploratie van het bewustzijn en het lichaam, de toepassing van anatomische, fysiologische, psychofysische en ontwikkelingsmatige principes en het gebruik van het bewustzijn, de beweging, de aanraking en de stem. In deze workshop zullen we ons focussen op de mechanismen van de vocale expressie en de verhouding tussen beweging, gehoor en spraak. Hierbij zal de relatie tussen stem en andere lichaamssystemen, zoals organen en lichaamsvloeistoffen, aangegrepen worden om stem- en bewegingsmateriaal te creëren. Zo zullen we niet enkel onze fysieke stemmen, maar ook de cultureel bepaalde stemmen aanwenden. De creaties zullen berusten op observatie, exploratie en expressie van verscheidene ervaringen. Net zoals het materiaal staat het ervaringsgerichte centraal in het onderzoek. Zoals Cohen poneert: ‘We are each the study, the student, the teacher’. |
Experiments with interactive sound and movement systems, based on theremin sensor technology. Listen to "someone was talking...". Image will be added soon.
"A musical instrument is a device to translate body movements into sound."
--Sawada, Ohkura, and Hashimoto
Andrei Smirnov will give a brief overview of the main biomechanical concepts developed in Russia in the 1920-s by psychophysiologist Nikolai Bernstein, and of the techniques used to monitor and measure the body movements of workers, athletes, dancers and musicians. He will then introduce us to interactive systems, based on the theremin-sensor technology developed by Andrei Smirnov and based on the same principle as the Theremin and Terpsitone, two well-known electronic musical instruments. The Theremin and the Terpsitone are the first known motion tracking systems, which could be played by free movement of the dancer’s body in the space surrounding it. During the presentation an interactive system - a sort of virtual musical instrument as well as an active sonic space - will be demonstrated.
After his presentation on Tuesday Andrei Smirnov will be interviewed about his participation in Crash Landing Moscow, where he confronted dancers for the first time with a classical Theremin instrument. Please stay and listen to this public interview.
Is the voice used as a medium for expression, to represent a meaning outside of itself or merely because of sound production? What is the relationship between voice and movement? How to think the hierarchy of this relationship? Starting from the analysis of a text, a film, a performance or a sonoric experience we will come to tasks to generate new material; e.g. by making translations from one medium to another, or by copying and mutating the original score.
Participants are invited to bring material!
Reading 'Voice and Presence' (p36-42) and 'the acousmatics of the voice' (p60-71).
We will be looking at Hitchcock's Psycho.
| Christine De Smedt started Body-Mind Centering practice through creations such as nvsbl and dance#1/driftworks. Both creations were in collaboration with and initiated by Eszter Salamon. In nvsbl, BMC was used as a supportive technique to produce an invisible choreography. In dance#1/driftworks, they used BMC as a generator for questioning and production of movement in the frame of transformation. Since then, Christine continues her practice as an important self study methodology, in order to develop more knowledge and create more opportunities for voice and movement works. Christine De Smedt is a member of the company les ballets C de la B since 1990. Since 1993 she presented her own work, a solo la force fait l’union fait la force, Escape Velocity (1998) and a large scale choreography project 9x9 (2000-2005), realized in 15 cities in Europe and Canada. In collaboration with Meg Stuart and David Hernadez, she initiated and managed the multidisciplinary improvisation project Crash Landing (1996-1999). She worked for several years with Meg Stuart (1995-1999), and recently worked with Marten Spangberg, Mette Edvardsen, Susanne Berggren, Xavier Le Roy and Philipp Gehmacher. Lately she collaborated with Eszter Salamon for the quartet nvsbl and the duet dance#1/driftworks and created with Myriam Van Imschoot Pick Up Voices, a piece that mixes historical research, performance and shadow play. |
Christine De Smedt startte met de Body-Mind Centering training tijdens de creaties nvsbl en dance#1/driftworks. Beide producties werden geïnitieerd door en gecreëerd in samenwerking met Eszter Salamon. In nvsbl werd BMC gehanteerd als ondersteunende techniek om een onzichtbare choreografie te creëren. In dance#1/driftworks daarentegen werd BMC aangewend als een generator voor bevraging en voortbrenging van beweging en dit binnen het kader van transformatie. Sindsdien zet Christine haar training als een belangrijke zelfstudiemethodiek, verder om meer kennis te ontwikkelen en meer kansen voor stem- en bewegingswerk te creëren. Christine De Smedt is sinds 1990 lid van het dansgezelschap les ballets C de la B. Sinds 1993 presenteert Christine voor het eerst eigen creaties, zoals de solo la force fait l’union fait la force, Escape Velocity (1998) en het grootschalige project 9x9 (2000-2005)dat in 15 steden in Europa en Canada werd gerealiseerd. De Smedt stond samen met Meg Stuart en David Hernandez aan de basis van het multidisciplinaire improvisatieproject Crash Landing (1996-1999). Ze werkte enkele jaren als danser en artistieke assistent bij Meg Stuart (1995-1999). De laatste jaren werkte ze samen met onder andere Marten Spangberg, Mette Edvardsen, Xavier Le Roy, Susanne Berggren en Philipp Gehmacher. Met Eszter Salamon werkte De Smedt onlangs samen aan het kwartet nvsbl en het duet dance#1/driftworks. Eind 2008 creëerden Myriam Van Imschoot en Christine samen Pick Up Voices, een stuk dat historisch onderzoek mengt met performance en schaduwspel. |
| Florence Augendre studied ballet, African dance, tap dance and modern jazz and got hooked very quickly by professional activities in the field of theater, opera, cinema, contemporary dance and fine-arts. She has made a practice of engaging in any creative process, a touch that is profoundly rooted by the skills and the culture of the body and its dance. She has worked with theater directors Louis and Xavier Bachelot, choreographers Pascale Houbin, François Raffinot, Wes Howard, Andrew Degroat, Thierry Guedj, Christophe Haleb, Wim Vandekeybus, Meg Stuart, David Hernandez, Austrian - German group Labor GRAS, Johanne Saunier/Jim Clayburgh, Brice Leroux, Lance Gries (N.Y.), Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Riina Saastamoinen, Alexander Baervoets, Label Cedana, Olga de Soto and Koen Augustijnen. | Florence Augendre volgde verschillende lessen: ballet, Afrikaanse dans, tapdans en moderne jazz. Al gauw werd ze verslaafd aan de professionele activiteiten op het gebied van theater, opera, cinema, hedendaagse dans en schone kunsten. Doorheen de jaren heeft ze er een gewoonte van gemaakt om aan creatieve processen een toets toe te voegen die diep wortelt in de mogelijkheden en de aard van het lichaam en zijn dans. Ze werkte samen met onder andere theaterregisseurs Louis en Xavier Bachelot, choreografen Pascale Houbin, François Raffinot, Wes Howard, Andrew DeGroat, Thierry Guedj, Christophe Haleb, Wim Vandekeybus, Meg Stuart, David Hernandez, de Oostenrijks-Duitse groep Labor Gras, Johanne Saunier/Jim Clayburgh, Brice Leroux, Lance Gries (New York), Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Riina Saastamoinen, Alexander Baervoets, Label Cedana, Olga de Soto en Koen Augustijnen. |
Andrey Smirnov (1956) is an interdisciplinary artist, composer, independent researcher and developer of electronic music techniques, author, curator, educator. He is a founding director and the Senior Lecturer of the Theremin Center for Electroacoustic Music at Moscow State Conservatory where he teaches courses on history and aesthetics of electroacoustic music, sound design and composition, new musical interfaces and sensor technology, introductory digital audio signal processing and sound synthesis. |