The Blog features theoretical reflections on SE.S.TA Centre for Choreographic Development’s activities and interviews with artists participating in our programs. Their authentic testimony serves as the guide for other interested parties who may be wondering what to expect from a stay with us and how their artistic work might develop.
I’ve talked with Becka McFadden - choreographer, dance maker, dancer, performer and writer about her piece Vertigo, which she was developing during the Coaching Residencies 2020 last summer. As I was curious how the work evolved after the intensive time of Couching and what resonated with her until now and how it continues in this unclear pandemic temporalities. I proposed to ask questions about this piece through the tarot reading.
I’ve talked with Eva Urbanova - dancer, choreographer, dance maker who was one of the residents taking part on this year Coaching Residencies about her work on the piece which she recently presented as her final work on HAMU ( Academy of Performing arts - Music and Dance department). We've dwelled into the process of her work and topics she was addressing in her work together with eight performers coming from different backgrounds. We’ve talked about the numb hectic skin avoiding encounter and vulnerability of becoming intimate with the other in her choreographic process.
Kathy Casey – dramaturge and director of Montreal Dance in Canada was one of this year coaches who together with Alice Chauchat – dance maker and artist based in Berlin and also a coach of this year Coaching Residencies presented conversation about their work during the round table untitled Beside the Black Box: Re-inventing Aesthetics of Coming Together on Sunday 23th of August 2020 in National Gallery in Prague. For the panel, Kathy Casey was sharing some works she is currently involved with and which are needing time frames and environments that black boxes don't necessarily suggest for active audience involvement. She opened up how some of these works rely on “devotions”: repeated and investigated over long periods without much predetermined organization, challenging preexisting concepts of dramaturgy and choreography.
