05/03/2021
Hello reader,
The premiere of THE WOMAN DESTROYED is postponed - boooooooo, cry, sad! But we keep working and I keep being a wannabe blogger because it's fun >>
>> Montage
We keep the momentum going! This week we started a two-week technical residency / montage at the Grand Theatre Groningen. We’re focussing on giving light to the work and connecting that light with the technology that determines the outcome of the performance > in real time >> video + light + sound >>> A LOT of technical things to figure out. We aim to finish the work with an in house try-out here on 13th March. Unfortunately, Festival Cement, our premiere spot, is postponed and at this point we are not entirely sure when we can share TWD with a public audience. Nevertheless, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to complete the work and have it ready to share when the time is right.
We keep the momentum going! This week we started a two-week technical residency / montage at the Grand Theatre Groningen. We’re focussing on giving light to the work and connecting that light with the technology that determines the outcome of the performance > in real time >> video + light + sound >>> A LOT of technical things to figure out. We aim to finish the work with an in house try-out here on 13th March. Unfortunately, Festival Cement, our premiere spot, is postponed and at this point we are not entirely sure when we can share TWD with a public audience. Nevertheless, I feel extremely fortunate to be able to complete the work and have it ready to share when the time is right.
//TWD team
This feels like a good moment to introduce Loes Schakenbos, light designer and technical director for TWD. Loes Schakenbos (1973) travelled around the world as stage manager for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and 3 between 1996 and 2004. Among the most renowned theatres she has worked at are Saitama Arts Center, Paris Opera Garnier, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House and Muziek Theater Amsterdam. After working at Korzo Theater in The Hague as a tour technician and light designer, Loes has started her own business involving light design and technical production for modern dance productions. Since then, she has been working with choreographers such as Jiří Kylián / Kylian Productions, Nanine Linning, André Gingras, Vaclav Kunes, Marina Mascarell, Alida Dors and Jiří Pokorny. Loes recently started a new study funded by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie titled ‘code during cover’ - where she is expanding her technical knowledge into the realms of creative coding, algorithms, 3D printing and beyond.
This feels like a good moment to introduce Loes Schakenbos, light designer and technical director for TWD. Loes Schakenbos (1973) travelled around the world as stage manager for Nederlands Dans Theater 1 and 3 between 1996 and 2004. Among the most renowned theatres she has worked at are Saitama Arts Center, Paris Opera Garnier, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House and Muziek Theater Amsterdam. After working at Korzo Theater in The Hague as a tour technician and light designer, Loes has started her own business involving light design and technical production for modern dance productions. Since then, she has been working with choreographers such as Jiří Kylián / Kylian Productions, Nanine Linning, André Gingras, Vaclav Kunes, Marina Mascarell, Alida Dors and Jiří Pokorny. Loes recently started a new study funded by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie titled ‘code during cover’ - where she is expanding her technical knowledge into the realms of creative coding, algorithms, 3D printing and beyond.
<< Prototyping
It’s been quite an intense couple of months. During our residency in Dansateliers mid-January, I quickly realized that I needed to change direction and working method.
It’s been quite an intense couple of months. During our residency in Dansateliers mid-January, I quickly realized that I needed to change direction and working method.
Building new software, coding and sound programming takes a great deal of time and are tedious processes. In turn, a lot of this creation has been based in theories, and hoping things will work out how I expect them to; naturally that doesn’t always (read: rarely) happen. I figured that if we spent the necessary time to program everything in full, we wouldn’t have wiggle room to change route if things didn’t feel right. So, we shifted our focus to prototyping - creating rough manual versions of desired outcomes - in order to feel what was worth pursuing and investing further time in. In a way we had to ‘fake it’ before building the fully functioning software. I’m glad we figured this out quite early on; the prototypes gave us very necessary guidance! We also had in house feedback sessions in both Dansateliers and ICK Amsterdam which informed some vital decisions.
.Up next
We are looking forward to sharing more insight about the software (that is almost complete!) with you very soon.. and also, further down the line, the full live performance.
We are looking forward to sharing more insight about the software (that is almost complete!) with you very soon.. and also, further down the line, the full live performance.
Until soon, take care…
Courtney
13/01/2021
Hello reader,
I hope you’ve had a relaxing transition into the new year, and I wish you and your loved ones good health and strength for 2021...
<< 2020
To round up the first residency at Dans Brabant Tilburg, a live studio sharing was unfortunately not possible due to corona restrictions. Fortunately, we were already preparing to host a live stream. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how drawn in and connected people felt despite watching through a screen. And although it felt vulnerable to open the studio to the (digital) public at such an early stage in the process, it was an important moment. Thank you to everyone who showed up and offered much valued feedback, and to Dans Brabant / Davey Bakker for facilitating the event!
To round up the first residency at Dans Brabant Tilburg, a live studio sharing was unfortunately not possible due to corona restrictions. Fortunately, we were already preparing to host a live stream. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how drawn in and connected people felt despite watching through a screen. And although it felt vulnerable to open the studio to the (digital) public at such an early stage in the process, it was an important moment. Thank you to everyone who showed up and offered much valued feedback, and to Dans Brabant / Davey Bakker for facilitating the event!
Next to feedback moments, these sharing's also function as training for me. One of my main tasks in this performance is to follow the instructions of the computer code in real time, and so I want to get comfortable with navigating the unknown, sharpen my listening skills and my ability to respond quickly. Of course, I practice this in rehearsals but it feels very different to experience that place of uncertainty with the added pressure of watching eyes.
If you missed the sharing and would like to see it, please write me and I can send you a video link!
.Podcast recommendation
I want to take a moment to recommend a podcast I listened to at the end of my first week in residency - ‘practicing dance dramaturgy: learning to learn’ by Merel Heering and tyroneisaacstuart in conversation with Adesola Akinleye, Mohamed Yusuf Boss, Melih Gençboyacı, Jeppe Hemdorff Nissen, Connor Schumacher & Jaukje van Wonderen.
At that moment it felt like a gentle hug amongst the anxiety that surrounds the beginning of a new creation process. A lot of the conversations felt relatable to my process - there are thoughts on dealing with uncertainty, the need to be adaptable and flexible, continuing to learn and self-reflect, honing listening skills, the danger of having certainty as a goal etc. It goes to many different places beyond what I’ve just described, it’s a great listen! Check it down here.
>> 2021
After two weeks of holidays, reflections and preparations we got straight back to the studio. We spent last week in residency at ICK Artist Space in Amsterdam where we focussed on the technical aspects of the work; sound programming, computational linguistics, coding, etc. As well as live generated sound scores, we will also work with live generated light. It’s a complex process to link the two and is definitely a work in progress, but Elisa & Loes had some breakthroughs! For example, syncing the brightness / colour tone of the light bulb to the tempo / quality of the live generated music score. We have a two-week montage in the Grand Theatre Groningen in March to really dive into the light’s role in these systems we’re creating.
//TWD in writing
In Miranda July’s career retrospective book, I read the following text - ‘I’ve always thought that writing books was the most precise medium, the one I can express myself most clearly in, because I have total control.’ She goes on to speak about how some things cannot be created through effort and that sometimes a magical, accidental, or unconscious frisson is necessary. I agree, but it’s the first part that felt most relatable to me; the feeling of control and clarity of expression when being able to choose precise words to describe certain things.
Over the past year I’ve written a lot about this project; for prize pitches and funding applications etc. I’ve found that words have helped me untangle and formulate my ideas, intentions, opinions etc. Through writing I’ve been able to find a clarity which I can now take into the dance studio. So, I’ve decided to share passages of text on my website. Some are my own musings, others are text from writers that have served as inspiration to me. Here you can read my latest text ‘Some meandering thoughts on the transitory experience of live art and my attempt to reinforce that experience... and a Zadie Smith quote.’
//TWD team
I’m collaborating with a variety of creatives on this project, each of whom deserve their own introductions. First up - Elisa Batti.
Elisa is a sound designer, producer and media artist based in Amsterdam. Her activity is divided between a spectrum of projects, all of them connected through one red thread: electronic music. In 2007, she began working in the contemporary dance scene, experimenting with software and sounds, creating soundtracks and landscapes for choreographers. Over the years she has also collaborated with numerous visual and media artists on sound installations; focussing on the sound design and technological development. Her work has been presented in venues worldwide including Palais de Tokyo Paris, ElbPhilarmonie Hamburg, Taiwan National Theater, Santarcangelo Festival, Fusion Festival, Ballet Nationale de Marseille and Kinetica Museum.
After some years as the leader of a band - Violet Fall, 2012-2015, released under the Japanese label Progressive Form - Elisa stepped actively into the techno environment as a DJ. In 2018 she found the label Immaterial Archives. To date, the label has released nine EPs, of which many producers from the techno underground scene have been involved in.
Such a varied approach to music is due to Elisa’s background which is not strictly artistic. She graduated as an environmental engineer and continued her academic career achieving a PhD and two Post Docs at the Technical University of Delft. She is currently working as a lecturer at the Anton de Kom University and as a freelance engineer for research projects.
.Up next
On Monday we started a three-week residency in my home base Rotterdam at Dansateliers. I’m enjoying this nomadic creation process, artistic island hopping from place to place. Each dance house is contributing something unique to this project; working collectively feels good.
Until soon, take care...
Courtney
07/12/2020
Hello reader,
I’m very happy to introduce you to my latest creation THE WOMAN DESTROYED; an interdisciplinary live research performance that explores themes surrounding 'the dangers of uninhibited power'. A series of 'exercises' emerge that involve movement, visual projections, sound programming, and computational linguistics.
Today I’ll step into the studios of Dans Brabant for my first residency of the creation process. I have to admit it feels strange to be diving into such a creation during these troubling times. I don’t take this opportunity lightly; what immense privilege it is to be able to continue making art and to connect with people while doing so. That being said I will mostly be working alone in the studio - physically, that is - and so to stay in touch with the world outside feels more urgent than usual.
Over the next three months I will share regular digital insight into my creation process. That way, next to connecting with my close collaborators directly I can also connect with you, virtually. Computer programming is a key part of TWD; various technologies define different aspects of the performance in real time; the structure and content is therefore not quite the same each time it is presented. In computer programming there exists a term ‘open source’. In short, open source refers to a software for which the original source code is made freely available and can be modified and redistributed by anyone. Principles of the ‘open source way’ include, transparency, collaboration, release early and often, reusability and accessibility.
Max/MSP patch made by Tharim Cornelisse during the research phase of this project
I’m eager to apply these principles to the creation process of THE WOMAN DESTROYED. I welcome you to write me back and share your thoughts on what you read or see. Please feel free to share with me material from other sources that resonate with you in a similar way. Open source means that ownership is difficult to identify. An early goal of this project was to challenge the notion of ownership by outsourcing decision making to machines, and by ‘up-cycling’ existing material as much as possible; be it sound, movement or text. I would love for that chain to continue and extend beyond the process of TWD. With that in mind, I warmly encourage you to take, modify, and redistribute anything that I fill your screen with. Weather it is photos, words, illustrations or video clips. Use it in your own projects, if you like. Reuse, recycle, sample, extract, appropriate, reconfigure,.. what’s mine is yours.
Very soon you can find insight on my personal social media channels, Instagram / Facebook, and each month I’ll compile a more elaborate summary of the process to date. You can Sign Up if you want to receive the monthly summary directly to your mailbox. Everything will be uploaded to this online portfolio, so that all of the content is easily accessible in one location.
I will also organise regular public work in progress presentations along the way - hopefully corona restrictions allow! I’m looking into how I could live stream those events in order to increase accessibility; more on that soon. The first to note is 17th December 2020, 19:00, SoDa studio / Dans Brabant, Goudenregenstraat 15-07, Tilburg. Information on how to reserve a spot will be announced soon.
I’m looking forward to sharing more of THE WOMAN DESTROYED with you in the coming months, I hope you enjoy the process!
Courtney
THE WOMAN DESTROYED is co-produced by Dansateliers Rotterdam & Dansmakers Amsterdam / ICK Artist Space, supported by DansBrabant Tilburg, CAMPO Ghent and Grand Theatre Groningen. TWD was awarded De Troffel 2020 an incentive prize of Festival Cement Den Bosch where the work will premiere in March 2021.
The project is financially supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, Gemeente Rotterdam and NORMA Fonds.
The project is financially supported by Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, Gemeente Rotterdam and NORMA Fonds.
