Laban and Dance History in relation to Sync/O: Student Perspectives
Mara Penrose, an MFA student, and Hannah Kosstrin, a PhD student in the dance department at the Ohio State University, offer insights about Synchronous Objects from the perspective of Labanotation and dance history in a recent interview with graduate student Lily Skove.
Lily Skove: Can you speak to your interest in Labanotation in relation to Synchronous Objects?
Mara Penrose: Systems of annotation represent the movement they describe. Therefore, dance notations need to be specific to the piece itself and the intended audience. The question is, to use a valuable word offered by this project, “traces,” what kind of traces are appropriate for the work? Synchronous Objects’ purpose is not to reconstruct One Flat Thing, Reproduced using Labanotation or some other form of dance notation. I see Synchronous Objects as a generative and creative new construction of One Flat Thing, Reproduced. Translation of a dance can take many forms, and what is of interest to me is the way that my knowledge of One Flat Thing, Reproduced is deepened through Synchronous Objects. Alva Noe in his talk during the Forsythe Symposium held at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio spoke to the project as a model for understanding, and this got me thinking about how Rudolf Laban created notation as a model for understanding as well. The intention behind Laban’s notation and Synchronous Objects has parallels: both aim to discover new theories or ways of perceiving a dance.
Lily Skove: How do you view the Synchronous Objects as a dance historian?
Hannah: I am interested in looking at Synchronous Objects from within the trajectory and scope of William Forsythe’s entire body of work. In previous projects and particularly in this one, my attention shifts from the work itself to the process of making the work. The tools on the Synchronous Objects’ website help to expose not only the structure of One Flat Thing, Reproduced but the principles that guided Forsythe and interested him choreographically. Counterpoint, alignments, and cueing systems are aspects of the dance that I understand as pliable and flexible principles that could take many forms, from One Flat Thing, Reproduced, to the Data Fan (computer generated imagery). Synchronous Objects invites dialogue about the process of making, and coming from a historical perspective, this dialogue enriches my understanding not only of Forsythe’s pieces but his methodology.
Michael, delighted to have your response and to know that this work continues to be generative for you. I enjoy reading your blog. -Norah
I am a Japanese MFA student in the dance studies department. I have been thinking about the relationship between Sync/O and Labanotation, too, and I think Mara’s idea is convictive.
I am trying to find out the properties of Forsythe’s counterpoint. Sync/O really helps me to deepen my knowledge of OFTr and sharpen my view.
I am hoping that I can exchange my views with you through this blog or any other means.
Tomoko
Thanks for your comment Tomoko. Counterpoint is the subject of all the information in Sync Objects and if you’d like a definition, check out the essays under the “INTRODUCTION” tab. In the essay “the dance” we define counterpoint and explain how the three systems (cues, alignments, recombination of movement material) create counterpoint. I teach workshops on this subject as well and may be coming to Japan with the Goethe Institute in 2011. I’ll be sure to share that on the blog when the time comes. Do you have other specific questions about counterpoint? As for the relationship with Laban notation there is no direct relationship. However, the dapartment of dance at ohio state is known for Laban studies and the interest in deep analysis and in creating a trace of choreographic ideas is a good overlap between the two. One key difference is that we did not do this work in order to reconstruct the original dance, nor was it for repertory as is typical of Laban. We started instead from an interest in creating what we call a “generative trace” that is, something that catalyzes new creativity and transforms the ideas within a dance into a myriad of other manifestations of structure.
Best, Norah
Thank you for your comment, Nora. I’m sorry for my delayed reply. The word “counterpoint” was new to me and I thought it was rather difficult to grasp. I’ve been reading through the blog for better understanding, however, it takes me some time.
I am really excited to hear that you might come to Japan. I can hardly wait!