Detecting, choreographing, sculpting how does an action create the germ of a narrative?

• Autor(a) principal: Ramos De Barros, Maria
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/16022
• topic: Embodiment; Contemporary dance; Choreography; Sculpture; Antony Gormley; Atistic practice in dance; Movement and stillness; Active stillness

The key method and technique discussed in this article is the process of embodiment. Maria Ramos draws a parallel between the methods used in contemporary dance, using as an example the practice of dance teacher and choreographer Mary O'Donnell Fulkerson, as described in Fulkerson's paper 'Language of the Axis', and the methods of sculptor Antony Gormley, who begins his sculptures by making a cast of his own body. This process of embodiment gives his sculptures a sense of fullness and aliveness, and Ramos argues that a similar process is used in contemporary dance to create movement. Maria Ramos focuses on identifying the working processes she used in the choreographies '7pm/Rumour' and 'Nerves Like Nylon', and embodiment is key to this process. Maria Ramos uses 'active stillness' as a practice that allows images to sink into her body and create a physical state, surrounding her body with specific materials, such as text in the case of 7pm/Rumour, to create a physical state, behaviour and state of mind from which she begins her artistic process. The focus is on immersing the body in these materials to create a sense of meaning without being figurative or self-descriptive. The article also emphasises the importance of work-process analysis carried out by professional artists, as opposed to professional spectators such as academics, dramaturges and critics. This perspective is consistent with the work of dance scholar Susan Melrose, who argues for a focus on practice-led research as a means of understanding artistic processes.