Curriculum

Old Paris / New Europe: Dance, Dramaturgy & Film

While staying in the Citadines Apartments at Parmentier, participants get a taste of the artist's life in Paris. Working together as an ensemble, we will introduce students to the city's rich artistic history as well as the world of contemporary movement arts in Europe through a course in dance dramaturgy called Old Paris/New Europe. Our theme for Summer 2012 is Dance for Camera: On Location, Paris.

Dance for Camera is an exciting venue for choreographic artists and performers alike, liberating us from the interior and technical constraints of theatrical staging and opening us to the nuances of site-specific choreography. The camera offers intriguing ways to bring the audience in close and "on location" to places performances rarely happen. The genre often blends both dance and physical theatre, further expanding our pallet of artistic materials, costumes, props and content, supported by an intimacy that only a camera eye view can give to the audience.

For eleven days in Paris, we will work as an ensemble alongside professional video and choreographic artists, preparing performance materials in-studio, as well as selecting Parisian locations for site-specific research. Students' dramaturgical process will include site-specific performance processes and integrate the architecture and art history that is uniquely Parisian. Collaboratively we will construct improvisational and choreographed works designed both for the location and the camera.

Our field research will include a diversified sampling of performances, museum visits and discussions animated by French art historian Lorraine Audric. Daily studio classes and discussion seminars animated by WashU faculty will be held with the student ensemble. During free time, students are also encouraged to explore independently the dance technique classes offered by European choreographers at the Studio Ménagerie de Verre, right across from the hotel.

In preparation for the second course that takes place in Burgundy, students will document their dramaturgical research of European art and French culture in this initial step of the creative process. During a three-week residency in the studios of Champs Mélisey, Burgundy, students will deepen their own practice in choreography, design and performance under the tutelage of European artists and American choreographer, David Dorfman. For more about this second part of the program, see: Choreography & Construction Collaborations.

 

Choreography & Construction Collaborations

Working with European artists in residence at Champs Mélisey and joined by American choreographer David Dorfman, students will deepen their exploration of the choreographic process with site-specific projects and studio work for the camera. Taking advantage of the rural setting, we explore the nature, history and art of the Tonnerre region through dance and film projects.

Ideas will be introduced and developed through a collaborative process of research and creation founded on the principle of cultural exchange and experiment. Regular showings will give students opportunities to witness one another's creative process, to give and receive feedback and to exchange ideas while also learning about the video editing process and preparing for live ensemble performances that will include our dance for film.

We encourage students to link research in performance history to creative praxis, articulating, rendering and transforming ideas into concrete inventions. We also want students to acquire life skills: about travel and living in a foreign country, about cultural and artistic exchange, about cooperation with peers, about representing their heritage as cultural ambassadors, about expading their own creativity, and about how to make decisions in complex and unfamiliar situations. These are some of the goals of our creative residency at Champs Mélisey.

This year's resident artists include: Henri Ogier (sound-object design), Dominique Montain (voice and movement), and Liz Claire (choreography) of the company Au Cul du Loup; David Marchant (choreography) from Washington U; David Dorfman (choreography) of David Dorfman Dance & Connecticut College; Jules Beckman (composer) of Company libertivore & Cirque A.O.C.; and Antoine Melchior (videographer).

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