de dansers

- Utrecht company of dancers and musicians, led by choreographer / dancer Josephine van Rheenen and composer / musician Guy Corneille
- intuitively compelling stories about liberation and surrender, in which playful anarchism is never far away
- inspire physicality and personal connection, especially in a society in which we increasingly live on screens
- De Dansers believes in particular in the value of dance at a young age. Then your body is full of movement, asks to run, jump, touch.De Dansers believes in particular in the value of dance at a young age. Then your body is full of movement, asks to run, jump, touch.
- expert in the first contact with dance and creates work for adults and children / families

- six dancing and singing bodies looking for something to hold on to
- everything around you is unpredictable
- slips from your hands
- desire to have something tangible under your fingers, preferably someone's hand
- anger and tenderness compete for the foreground
- virtual world = invisible danger distancing us from human touch

03/02 TALK W/ DE DANSERS

- Hold your horses - in german -> put reigns on yourself
- Body is central element
- Intimate / minimal setting (ONLY NECESSARY ELEMENTS)
- 1 musician , 5 dancers (gypsy flamenco acoustic)
- anti-movement of digital world -> smack the body to feel its presences

- Campaign image (deadline 1st week March)
- Flyer & Posters (A2?)
- Teaser (Deadline: June?)

- close up of moving body (play with shutter speed & aperture)
-> zoom out over time at first body part is unrecognisable
-> ideal for motion images
- slap bracelet
- human element
- have an element holding a body, resistance between human and another element
- becoming one with the things we grab for our own benefit (for example chair, stairs, etc.)
- physical & emotional residue of touch, grabbing?
- Rothko inspired squares which move around fall, jump, etc
(each square is a dancer and can be translated into motion and audio)

- each dancer is represented through a rectangle which fly through space and interact with eachother
- the motion can be connected to audio recorded by the dancers of their bodies interacting with objects, other bodies, slaps, slides, etc.

#2_ LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Mark Rothko sought to make paintings that would bring people to tears. “I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions—tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on,” he declared. “And the fact that a lot of people break down and cry when confronted with my pictures shows that I can communicate those basic human emotions….If you…are moved only by their color relationships, then you miss the point."

Rothko considered color to be a mere instrument that served a greater purpose. He believed his fields of color were spiritual planes that could tap into our most basic human emotions. For Rothko, color evoked emotion. Therefore each of Rothko's works was intended to evoke different meanings depending on the viewer.

Photo by Bill Wadman

Photos by Bill Wadman

- capture movement through long exposure photography
- energetic, alive, dynamic
- use details at first (teaser) so that it seems abstract but then becomes clearer after reveal

From teaser image to full size image ->

Colour layer over unedited image (Opacity: Overlay)

Image over colour layer (Opacity: Multiply)

- communicate emotion through blur and unknowing
- suspense between detail and personal interpretation

#3_ Anti-movement towards technology

- The idea behind this concept is the refusal of the norm
- We are expected to learn new technologies and these images show an unusual behaviour between object and other human beings
- It is a refusal to interact to something the way we are expected to
- Mostly inspired by the feeling of holding on to something or someone

#4_ The tension between holding on and letting go

- dancers in a battle with letting go and holding on
- this could be visualised through an object, in this case a string, which is preventing the dancers from moving forward

- Could be interesting to construct the title 'Hold your horses' by human touch
- non digital type, handwritten and unique
- could be the dancers handwriting

- dance represented through layered stills of a dancer
- make the frame predominantly body, emphasising being alive and movement

- dancers could use an (embroidered) rope with title 'Hold your Horses' to interact with eachother, stretch it, throw it, attach it, etc.
- creates the sensation of holding onto something, very tactile
- Able to embroider a specific font on it and use vibrant colours
- Could make interesting motion aswell, stretching the type on the string, pulling the string past a camera and revealing title, etc.
- refers back to the input text:
"Also to live their lives people hold on to things, everybody has anchors they hold on to. Their beliefs, their identities, their religion etc. you can also get stuck in this. It is also good to practice letting go of the grip. Maybe then you feel lost or feel free"
-> String could be these beliefs we hold on to, that we want to break free from, constant battle between wanting to let go and holding on to something

Found these pictures in my camera roll after this weekend of hanging out with two friends. We were completely unaware that a picture was being taken and just dancing around for fun. I love the close ups of these pictures, they remind me slightly of XRAYS, which I think relates nicely to our livelihood in a way that our bones make up our bodies.