The seed of the entire work of The Six Viewpoints is found in the simple act of standing in space. The artist is invited to perceive the lexicon of daily experience. The information of space, the experience of time, the familiarity of shapes, the qualities and rules of kinetics in movement, the development of logic and the states of being and emotional exchanges that constitute the process of communication between living creatures. These are the six materials named in The Six Viewpoints that constitute basic deconstructed performance.
The simplicity of The Six Viewpoints is based on one-on-one contact with the basic materials. Working directly with these materials the artist begins to learn of performance through the essential languages – each as an independent intelligence.
Drawing on the work of Mary Overlie, the workshop will introduce a horizontal frame of mind that enables the performer to choose which materials they are working with and significantly nourishes their relationship with their environment, opening their process up to innumerable subjects of study. The weekend will move through different laboratories that facilitate practices of contemplation of the materials, improvisations and experiments in composition.
In entering this work the artist finds that they are anchored in 3-D reality and freed of the opinions of others about how to make dance or theatre. In this undertaking the artist is challenged to develop self-guidance, the discipline of keeping focused and the ability to have perspective. To accomplish this requires a type of physical training that focuses on the body in great detail. This requires educating the mind and body to its function. Underlying training such as Contact Improvisation and Jean Hamilton's Floor Barre Technique educates the instrument in depth without culturing patterns of movement. This type of approach is essential in that it develops availability to sense rather than to produce.
Sophia Treanor
