Stockholm University of the Arts
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Articulating dance knowledge : – a study investigating aspects of knowing when performing a parallel pirouette
No full textIn this article, we describe the results from the dance section of a ULF project. ULF is an abbreviation for Development, Learning, Research (Swedish: Utveckling, Lärande, Forskning). Dance is a school subject at upper secondary level in Sweden with its own curriculum and grading criteria. Previous research has problematised teachers’ diffi-culties in verbalising and articulating their grounds for assessment. The research model used, a learning study, with its methodological and theoretical implications, is intro-duced. The model is collaborative and iterative and is combined with teaching practice. The results, presented as three categories of description in an outcome space with critical aspects, answer the research question: How can qualitative aspects of delimited subject-specific dance knowledge, namely, to perform a parallel pirouette, be articulated? We discuss the project’s results, gains and challenges and argue that the model used can be a way to gain knowledge about knowing expressed in a physical form, knowledge which is described as partly tacit. Considering the notion of tacit knowledge can be a way to understand the formation of dance knowledge and how it can be researched, in order to develop a subject-specific language
Circus as Practices of Hope : A Philosophy of Circus
No full textMy doctoral artistic research project, Circus as Practices of Hope, responds to the growing complexities emerging from the convergence of the fourth industrial revolution, the sixth mass extinction, and the eco-socio-political turmoil of our time. What does it mean to be human today? What does it mean to be a circus artist today? How is circus relevant in today’s context? Core to this inquiry is the assertion that although circus arts hold the potential to foster significant knowledge, they simultaneously perpetuate outdated worldviews that restrict their transgressive potential. With this research, I investigate alternatives to regressive models of thoughts and modes of composition, aiming to identify and articulate circus’ inherent epistemic, ontological, and ethical specificities and their relevance for navigating and steering the current planetary paradigm shift. I conducted my research through embodied practices as a circus artist, as a pedagogue, and from the perspective of a human on Earth. My inquiry occurred through Multiverse, an iterative series of compositional performative experiments and discursive activities. I engaged critical posthumanism and neo-materialist philosophies to challenge and evolve my relation to risk, mastery, and virtuosity. The project conceptualizes circus arts as nomadic and fabulatory practices, culminating in a series of artistic, choreographic, and conceptual tools and methods that articulate circus arts within and beyond their disciplinary boundaries. The project advances a philosophy of circus that highlights circus-specific kinetic, aesthetic, and embodied relevancies in today’s context, situating circus arts as hopeful practices for the future. Mitt konstnärliga doktorandprojekt, Circus as Practices of Hope, är ett svar på den växande komplexitet som uppstår när den fjärde industriella revolutionen, den sjätte massutrotningen och vår tids ekologiska, sociala och politiska turbulens sammanstrålar. Vad innebär det att vara människa idag? Vad innebär det att vara cirkusartist idag? På vilket sätt är cirkus relevant i dagens sammanhang? Kärnan i denna undersökning är påståendet att även om cirkuskonst har potential att främja betydande kunskap, vidmakthåller den samtidigt föråldrade världsbilder som begränsar dess gränsöverskridande potential. Med denna forskning undersöker jag alternativ till regressiva tankemodeller och kompositionssätt, i syfte att identifiera och formulera cirkusens inneboende epistemiska, ontologiska och etiska särdrag och deras relevans för att navigera och styra det pågående planetära paradigmskiftet. Jag genomförde min forskning genom förkroppsligade praktiker som cirkusartist, pedagog och utifrån perspektivet av att vara en människa på jorden. Min undersökning skedde genom Multiverse, en iterativ serie av kompositionella performativa experiment och diskursiva aktiviteter. Jag använde mig av kritisk posthumanism och neo-materialistiska filosofier för att utmana och utveckla min relation till risk, behärskning och virtuositet. Projektet konceptualiserar cirkuskonst som nomadiska och fabulerande praktiker, och kulminerar i en serie konstnärliga, koreografiska och konceptuella verktyg och metoder som formulerar cirkuskonst inom och bortom dess disciplinära gränser. Projektet främjar en cirkusfilosofi som lyfter fram cirkusspecifik kinetisk, estetisk och förkroppsligad kunskap, och som lyfter fram cirkus som en hoppfull praxis inför framtiden.Introduction to DocumentationThis text introduces the parts of the documented artistic research project (doctoral thesis). As such, it is a navigation tool for moving across the project’s parts and a guideline for "reading" the entire project’s documentation. The documented artistic research project (doctoral thesis) consists of - The live performance Multiverse - A digital spherical exposition- A written exegesis- Artifacts By combining several modes of documentation, I wish to affirm the various modes of research, honor their discursive and aesthetic specificities, and recognize their linguistic incompossibility.Live PerformanceThe live performance Multiverse has been continuously developed throughout the research project through a series of iterations. It has been presented internationally in different contexts and will be presented at the making public of the thesis on April 29th, 2024, at Stockholm University of the Arts. Multiverse offers direct access to the research as performance and aesthetics praxis. The performance contains elements considered “unarchivable,” necessitating it be experienced live. Digital ExhibitionThe digital exhibition, located on the Research Catalogue, an international database for artistic research, provides a spherical exposition of the research processes through a repository of images, texts, and diagrams. The exposition intends to honor the aesthetics of the research by employing the concepts and principles that emerged from and steered the process. With a diffractive structural mode of composition, the exposition offers transversal and anarchic ways of moving within the project's various mediality. By adopting a cosmological approach to documentation, I wished to explore the potential of non-linear accesses, multiple partial views, and the built-in ambivalence that comes with these. The digital exhibition has been fed and transformed throughout the research project through evolving and unstable indexicalities, manifesting the fugitive and kinetic aspects of knowledge formation. Exegesis The exegesis is a critical textual articulation of the research project. The text exposes and discusses the research's questions, methods, and findings. The text accounts for why and how I conducted the artistic research project. It elaborates on and discusses the concepts and processes that were activated through and emerged from the project. ArtifactsThe artifacts—one volvelle, one bubble, and one piece of foil—are physically archived at Stockholm University of the Arts. The purpose of the physical archive is to give material access to a few of the bodies/objects/materials that have been significant in conducting the research project. Notes on Documentation Alternative modes of knowledge production (such as knowing through circus) require alternative ways of articulation. The field of artistic research enables researchers to develop alternatives to traditional academic documentation. In this thesis, I aim to provide a situated account of my project without conforming to academic conventions but without rejecting them entirely. The parts above constitute my doctoral thesis. Each part is distinct yet complementary. While this documented artistic project is best understood in its entirety, my hope is that each part is independently valuable and accessible. </p
Brujos Urbanos : Sobre conexiones humanas, espiritualidad y física cuántica.
No full textDuring the isolation in Mexico due to the pandemic, two groups of people fought their own ideals to prevent the disease: those who believed in scientific research, and those who followed shamans wisdom, the indigenous witches. Contrary to what people might believe, there are still a lot of beliefs in ancestry medicine in urban areas. During 2020 I have filmed clips of beliefs and traditions in different parts of Chihuahua, Mexico. I continued the research in Sweden and displayed the process at Tales Festival with sounds, objects and the film in VR. The name of the project: URBAN WITCHES, my artistic research: human connection. If you look a little bit into quantum physics, you will end up going back to what native indigenous believe in for generations: that we are connected (law of entanglement), that we get what we ask for (law of attraction), and that we are able to be in different places at the same time (tunneling law). These are not only physical laws, but ancestral knowledge that keeps our soul connected to every life form. If keeping our soul healthy is to be connected to our community the same way food and habits keep our mind and body healthy, then we need to be aware of our tendency to live in solitude, especially in big urban areas. I aim to continue the research on ancestral connectivity from a scientific point of view.Durante el aislamiento de la pandemia, dos grupos de personas defendieron diferentes posturas para prevenir la enfermedad: los de ciencia y los que siguen el chamanismo de los nativos indigenas, del cual mucha gente del area urbana aun practica. Durante el 2020 filmé un poco de sus creencias y tradiciones en el Estado de Chihuahua. Continué la investigación en Suecia y mostré el proceso con una instalación de arte la pelicula en VR, sonidos y objetos en el Festival de Tales. El nombre del proyecto: URBAN WITCHES; mi investigación artistica: la conexión humana. Si investigas un poco sobre la física cuántica, encontrarás similitudes con las creencias que los nativos indígenas han usado durante generaciones: que estamos conectados (Ley de entrelazamiento), que obtenemos lo que pedimos (Ley de la atracción) y que podemos estar en diferentes lugares al mismo tiempo (Ley de túneles). No sólo son leyes físicas, sino conocimiento ancestral que mantiene el alma unida de todas las formas de vida. Si mantener nuestra alma saludable es estar conectado a una comunidad de la misma forma que la comida y los buenos hábitos mantienen nuestro cuerpo y mente saludable, entonces debemos estar atentos a nuestra tendencia a aislarnos, especialmente en grandes áreas urbanas. Mi objetivo es continuar investigando la conectividad ancestral desde el punto de vista científico.https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/1779272/279637
Skådespeleri i en musikalisk och sånglig kontext
No full textI denna uppsats undersöker jag hur jag som operasångare kan nalkas skådespeleriet och sammanföra det med musikens och sångens uttrycksmedel
Life and love : perspectives on embodied dramaturgy
No full textIn this essay, I endeavour to look into three aspects of dramaturgical work that have emerged as central to my practice during the two years of studying the master program in performing arts, and the subsequent year of finalizing the exam project. Before I go into these aspects, I briefly outline what I define to be the basics of dramaturgical practice, as well as an introduction to the literature on dramaturgy that I have used for my exploration. The first aspect of dramaturgy that I examine is subjectivity, which relates to dramaturgy in the creative process, including ideas and definitions of who the dramaturg is and what the function of dramaturgy might be in contemporary performance, alongside my thoughts and inspiration regarding what animates and sustains artistic creation. In this section I connect existential philosophy to dramaturgy through my own dramatic writing and that of British playwright Sarah Kane. This is followed by an outline of my own artistic background and the ideas that have informed my creativity and method. The second aspect is listening, the term I have used to investigate dramaturgical analysis departing from Jean-Luc Nancy's writing about listening as philosopical practice and some of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's writing about perception and phenomenology. The theme of love has reoccuringly asserted itself in my investigations, which is why I use it as the third and final aspect, based on the writings of bell hooks. It connects to both of the other aspects, as well as to my artistic practice in general
Dramaturgy and Research in Devised Theatre
No full textThe publication is a written report/reflection which materialised from the collaborative research project Dramaturgy, Devising and Artistic Research. The project investigated the relationship between dramaturgy, artistic research and devising, positing that creative processes arguably constitute innovative processes of research. The project participants were Synne Behrndt, Sodja Lotker and Jon Refsdal Moe. The authors of the report are Synne Behrndt (Performing Arts, Stockholm University of the Arts) and Sodja Lotker (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, DAMU). The research was funded by Stockholm University of the Arts with publication contribution from Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Mixing fluid mechanics with circus: how the performing arts can enhance learning in an undergraduate engineering course
No full textOur multifaceted society calls for engineers that are not only experts in their domain, but possess the flexibility to understand adjacent disciplines. The inclusion of the performing arts in engineering curricula has shown potential for cultivating creativity and equipping STEM students with problem-solving abilities. However, the literature offers limited examples of such integration in engineering courses. We present a unique learning experience involving engineering students from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and circus students from Bachelor’s programme in Circus at Stockholm School of the Arts (SKH). Grounded in the concepts of docendo discimus, presentational dimension of circus and reflective thinking, our study aimed to: (1) explore engineering students’ acceptance of an unconventional collaboration with circus peers; and (2) assess the pedagogical value of this collaboration for the engineering students. We highlight challenges and potentialities of this collaboration, to inform educators interested in creative teaching approaches
Virtual Hallucinations : Moving between technology and spirituality in the animation process
No full text2D Animation is explored as a tool to visualize hallucinations in the VR (Virtual Reality) documentary film Urban Witches. The hallucinations are based on the memories of the filmmaker Nicia Fernandez who traveled to Mexico to experience a peyote ceremony - which is a collective healing ritual among several native Mexican tribes, in which the hallucinogenic plant peyote is consumed. The film involves several layers of interpretation: the camera, memories, neoshamanism etc. and touches upon subjects such as authenticity and mindfulness. An interpretive animation method is used, so as to avoid any unfounded representations, while an intuitive method is proposed as an alternative at the end. 2D Animation utforskas som ett verktyg för att representera hallucinationer i den dokumentära VR (Virtual Reality) filmen Urban Witches. Hallucinationerna är baserade på minnen från filmskaparen Nicia Fernandez som reste till Mexiko för att ta del av en peyote ceremoni, vilket är en kollektiv ceremoni för själsligt läkande bland många urinvånare i Mexico, där den hallucinogena drogen peyote tas. Filmen har flera lager av tolkningar: kameran, minnen, neoshamanism m.m. och rör vid ämnen såsom autenticitet och "medveten närvaro” (mindfulness). En tolkande metod för animationen är använd för att försöka undvika felaktiga representationer, medan en mer intuitiv metod är föreslagen mot slutet av arbetet.
Stadgar vs konstnärskap – hur kan de harmonieras?
No full textThis work is a discussion between myself and a couple of different professionals in the opera industry about stage fright, the importance of preparing and the positives and negative with preparing in different ways. The essay explains the different types of auditions with focus on auditions for scholarships and how to adapt to the statutes of the scholarship without losing your artistry. It ends with a recollection of my five latest large auditions, how they went and my reflections on the result versus my preparations. They also conclude how I can work specifically moving forward since the results were vastly different with the different levels of preparation
All those things left behind, for now
No full textDear visitor, reader, artist, researcher, and human being, As I am writing this letter, allowing it to perform the role of an abstract, I am just about to graduate the Masters program in Choreography at Stockholm University of the Arts. This MA has for me, among many other things foremost been a commitment and engagement in a two-year-long collective project and research on the never-ending wonder and question of what dance and choreography can be and can do. Throughout these two years, my research has been weaving itself from behind the back and backspaces, into the deepest vulnerability and out through the relationality. From there it has weaved further out and found its way to memories and ghosts, that most often have appeared in the middle of everything and everywhere. This research made me dance every day, at home, in the streets, in the studio, on travels, behind others, in front of myself, and in the felt sense of the present moment on our planet. This research also made me make 20+ casts of human backs, write more than 100 letters, take photos, and videos, create a part of a collective ZINE, use my voice (often for others), and engage with Swedish society and its history of individualism and my experience of loneliness. I practiced with my back as my front and I engaged with my own paradox; how could a research based on relationality, backspaces, and vulnerability take shape within a solo? Would it be possible to create a solo that is also a group piece? On May 4th and 5th 2024, the dance performance All those things left behind, for now, was performed at MDT Moderna Dansteatern in Stockholm, Sweden, as a result of this research. A solo performance in which I aimed for a dance where several bodies would take place in my body. As if my body could be shaped by other bodies in the moment of dancing. I made a solo that takes a step back and shifts its focus from forward-oriented to backward-oriented. A solo in which grief is taking place, honoring lost loved ones, as well as forgotten futures. A vulnerable solo? A solo that deals with the present moment and the fact that everything is and will always be in the process of change. A solo that delves into all of this through dancing. Because I believe in dancing. And so the letters, a format I have been engaging with as a writing practice from within my dancing practice. There are a lot of strong correlations between these two practices. They're both relational. They hold movements; close small ones as well as bigger stretches overseas. They hold time, meaning a present, past, and future. They deal with a sender and a receiver. They involve, presuppose, and evoke a relation, conjure up the other, and guide us into conversation. Just like dancing. To write, send, and receive letters is for me procedures of intimate acts, acts of care, and a wish to share. Just like dancing. The letters can hold fantasies, facts, friction, fiction, fantoms, and fantastic movements. Again, just like dancing. I find that fascinating. I collected 50 letters, written between August 2022 and May 2024. They perform the role of an essay and documentation of my Master’s degree project. The letters are written mainly from me, but also from other beings and things, performed by me. They are addressed to living and non-living beings and bodies of materials, written from different places and dance spaces on our earth. And from times of study, movement, crisis, war, grief, labor, hope, despair, love, and joy. What’s public here on Diva is a smaller collection, which was part of the collective Zine that I and my classmates did. If you are interested in reading and viewing more, you are more than welcome to contact me. All the best, Matilda Bilber