improvisation

Every joint of our body has its range of movement and there are countless combinations possible. The body possesses a great practical knowledge, that goes way beyond what the mind’s consciousness is able to process, about its anatomy and its mechanics, their actions and reactions, and their interactions with external forces (gravity, centrifugal- and centripetal force, another body etc.).
In a progressive series of improvisational tasks with one or more partners, exchanging information sensorially, in touch or at a distance, we will take advantage of this phenomenon to create forms, rhythms, movement qualities and trajectories far more sophisticated than the ones our conscious mind could invent. We will be guided away from our habitual tracks, patterns will be distorted or overridden.
While in the first part of the day we will practice to multiply and disconnect actions within our own individual body to create a sense of polyphony within it, we will, in a second chapter of the day, improvise the composition of the movement of a group, in the attempt to create one single organism out of a group of individual bodies.
We’ll be tapping into swarm intelligence/collective intelligence, swopping constantly between leading and following or doing both at the same time, taking the responsibility to initiate as well as the responsibility to play your part in the development of other people’s proposals or of unconsciously emerging structures, keeping an overview over the group composition while assuming your role within it.
No specific background requested but people who are interested by the movement body and enjoying it.

Ages: All ages
Levels: All levels

Photo credit: Dominique Libert, Tristán Pérez-Martín

Thomas Hauert

Having worked as a dancer with a.o. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, David Zambrano and Pierre Droulers, Thomas Hauert (CH) founded his company ZOO in Brussels in 1998. Cows in Space, his first piece was immediately awarded at Rencontres de Seine-Saint-Denis/Bagnolet. The company has since created more than 20 works, which have been performed all over the world. In addition to his work for ZOO, Thomas was also commissioned to create work for other companies including Zurich Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre, Candoco Dance Company and Ballet de Lorraine. Complementing his choreographic work, Hauert has developed an internationally recognized teaching method based on the movement research conducted with his company. He regularly teaches workshops worldwide. In 2012-13, he was a guest professor for dance and performance at Institute for Theater Studies, Freie Universität Berlin. Since 2013 he is the artistic director of the new bachelor degree in contemporary dance at the Manufacture/University of Performing Arts in Lausanne.