Being a dramaturge in contemporary dance is quite a challenge. A contemporary choreography in terms of language can be objectified as ‘the transcendental signified’ according to Bryan Reynolds; it all depends on each other. Every dance has its own context or frame and the created becomes meaningful only in this frame. Then the next step is how to construct a notation system and a way of speaking about dance, movement and bodies. How to find words that connect my thoughts to the mind of the artist? Every next contemporary creation will refresh the dialogue I have with the choreographer.
As a dramaturg I am dealing with what is actually on stage, what is present in dance and movement, and in art, but also what is in between the stage and the audience in the here and now. A different world reveals itself on stage as the creation becomes apparent. To quote Bettina Masuch a contemporary art piece always contains a new and different language than is apparent in its surrounding. An interesting question to me is what this language could evoke by those others and how this is related on the one hand to the conventions of theatre and the level of performativity and on the other hand on the level of perception of a specific audience in that very moment.
The process of creating a dance is also political loaded, because eventually it is a matter of making choices in the creative process. With political I mean to refer to relations of power between people and bodies, but also between bodies placed in space and in time. As a dramaturge I need to be aware of these ‘politics of choice’. To practice this I give ground to a theoretical perspective to create awareness of the consequences of those choices in the creation. That is why as a dramaturge I am firstly concerned with formulating the most relevant question in a certain moment, before the analysis of an answer takes place.
In the words of Michal Kobialka the challenge is to deal with their different differences in terms of vocabulary, directions of thinking about art and different aims with the creation.
Anne-Marije van den Bersselaar