DOI: 10.24308/iass-2014-132

Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, Mexico

cristina.medellin@gmail.com

Abstract

Toda obra de arte puede evaluarse desde muy diferentes puntos de vista, desde perspectivas académicas diversas, que rozan en sus esencias más íntimas, aspectos de la filosofía que le han de vincular con su contexto social e histórico; de este modo, la danza contemporánea y sus signos se deberán dar a la tarea de integrar las disciplinas que se entretejen en sus andamiajes, para construir un lenguaje que permita al espectador identificar un punto de encuentro con el lenguaje coreográfico. Los profesionales que se desarrollan en el campo de la danza contemporánea pueden trabajar como intérpretes, maestros, coreógrafos, críticos o investigadores, pero todos ellos trabajan para poner la danza en escena, al hacerlo se desenvuelven desde diferentes campos y disciplinas que buscan la comunicación con el espectador. Sin embargo los espectadores de danza tienden a ser en su mayoría miembros del mismo gremio, que constantemente se quejan de la falta de públicos. Se conoce que cuando una función de danza (en general de cualquier evento escénico) tiene la aceptación del público entonces cumple con su propósito de comunicación no verbal.

En los años de experiencia que tengo en el campo de la danza, he visto muchas más coreografías que discrepan de los lenguajes utilizados para el propósito de comunicación con el espectador, que aquellas que logran integrar los signos involucrados en favor de un discurso que permita contextualizar el trabajo del coreógrafo con la sociedad contemporánea, esta investigación pretende enriquecer la comprensión del proceso de comunicación entre el proceso creativo y la percepción del espectador.

Objetivo general:

Establecer cuáles son los aspectos signos observables en el proceso de interpretación que realiza el espectador al presenciar una coreografía de danza contemporánea y cuáles de estos signos se construyeron desde la intencionalidad del coreógrafo. Partiendo de el análisis comparativo entre, el proceso creativo de Merce Cunningam, (que se basa en las geometrías y las líneas exteriores que el espectador interpreta con facilidad como estéticas) y el trabajo de construcción coreográfica de Pina Bausch que da un sentido de interiorización con apoyo de los procesos personales de sus intérpretes

1. Dance interpretative signs

One cannot see further from what one know to see and can see; this depends on our location and learning of the visual codes to which we are exposed through out our lives. At many occasions, the visual codes teaching is left on the massive communication media hands which standardize the ways of seeing and the way in which, for staging facts, the actors must adopt a determined body code to communicate what the viewer have learnt through his exposure to the media “basicly, open TV”. This known as a cliché, establishes certain performer’s body expression communication rules that, in a conventional manner, produce an emotional reaction. This reaction is perceived by the viewer as normal, but can be intentionally manipulated. Doing a deeper reading of the appropriate and secondary features from the performer’s body expression, it allows to access the visual code to obtain a reference that enriches the viewer’s sight related to the decoding of body movement, as a way to broaden the viewer’s visual culture, but also, as an staging performer’s communicating tool.

The human condition is corporal. Matter of identity at an individual and collective level, the body is space that offers sight and reading, allowing others appreciation. Because of it we are named, recognized, identified within a social condition, a gender, an age, a history. (Le Breton, 2010: 17).

Choreographic creation is something that must be done with a clear sense and a determined direction, that is the path to generate a performance that “makes sense” for the audience, understanding “make sense” from its multiple meanings, all interrelated in the staging production. Thus, there is the definition of feeling ourselves as a being conscious of what is happening inside us, “make sense” is also understood as each one of the faculties located at each of the sensory organs, with which the animated beings perceive the outer world, as the capacity to understand and particularly to judge or appreciate things, for dancing, both rhythm and orientation sense are essential.[1]

The word “feel” comes from the Latin sentire which originally meant “hear”, further it became to represent the perception from all the senses, from there the words agree, sensible, sense, sensitive, sensation, sensibility, feel and resentment came.

In order to compose, the choreographer must have an idea about which is his language and work so this language makes sense. When composing it is expected that he considers his dancers’ feelings, self-perception and give this feeling to the performance, remembering, performers are not him but at the same time they are performance’s living and independent elements, in this way the creator looks forward to give a determined sense to the performers’ movements.

How many dances start with an estimulating idea dressed with controlled movements, but suddenly they get lost without a climax or finish in a hesitant manner, with a stop, not a real ending?. There are talented individuals who possess a shape sense and dramatic contrast by nature, but those who lack of these skills can be trained to acquire them as part of the choreography art, because whit out them for sure are lost. (Humphrey, 2001: 21).

The choreographer also must know music, how it is organized within the roll and be able to read a score, the history and literature as well, and have an informed point of view about what he is choosing: be able to talk with any musician, even if he knows little or anything about dance. In the relationships with composers, musical knowledge is particularly important to facilitate the music sense within the performance.

The idea of verbal sense is required by the dances with meaning, because for those based only upon the physical movement, acrobatics language is enough.

A good dance must be armed with phrases, and these must have a recognizable shape, a beginning and an end, with ups and downs along the line and length differences to achieve variety. The phrase should never be monotonous by the above mentioned reason, dance belongs to the reign of feelings and this never reveals itself in an horizontal line. (Humphrey, 2001: 22).

With out caring the subject, the creator’s direction is what give sense to the performance, that direction is a kinetic text that tells in its speech a sequence of meanings, informing us about the situation of the performer’s emotional states. Creators that work in giving sense to their works achieve great performances in which all the elements are incorporated in the same direction. Although it is not necessary that all the works have a literary character, or are filled with emotions, even those of abstract character when counting with a direction, lead the viewer to an aesthetic experience destination in where signs acquire meaning.

Dance by itself counts with elements to evoke emotions within its vocabulary, to excite the kinetic sense and show body’s subtleties. On the stage, body language despite of having defined limitations, it communicates with the viewer, who with out being able to use his sense of touch, uses his sense of sight to touch and results to him an easier way to communicate beyond the experience susceptible of being expressed through physical action.

2. Interpretative signs for dance can be taken from two lectures

Firstly, the abstraction by Merce Cunningham whose choreographies resemble more to plastic arts in reference to aesthetic designs that are developed in the space with out a literary message. Secondly, Pina Baush’s looks for representing human being from its most personal facets in processes closer to introspection and poetry.

2.1. Merce Cunningham “1919-2009”

Danced as soloist at Martha Graham’s company from 1939 to 1945, founded her own company in 1953, getting apart from Graham’s Psicological and Literary topics, she gives a relevant value to pure movement. Her choreographic technique consists in a random combination of pre-established movement sequels that can be determined at random, when the audience interacts with the support of different elements such as dice, coins and numbers, establishes the order of the sequence in which can be presented the movement phrases that constitute the choreography. Cunningham works this phrases with anticipation independently of the music used which was composed parallel with the choreography and did not have a direct influence on it. In many cases Cunningham did not listen to the music previously, but at her choreographies premiere. The main particularity of Cunningham movements is that these are located at any point in space, that are produced at any moment in time and that only are affected by a particular energy that characterized her impulse. Created this way, movements recover their initial meanings with no interpretation ambiguity possible.

Cunningham developed her own technique with which many virtuous dancers have been formed and trained all around the world. Along her large trajectory as choreographer until her death in 2009, she created a choreographic language that revolutionize the History of dance, building up a bridge between modern dance and what is now known as post-modern dance.

...her example, becomes in a stimulant for personality development for a whole choreographic artists generation, even though wouldn’t be nor her students neither her associates of the Cunningham professor and choreographer. Nevertheless a large number of dancers-choreographers considered as belonging to the new vanguard are, frequently, Cunningham’s former students. Or they have studied her technique or they took the curses of choreographic composition that Merce Cunningham gave along with Robert Dunn, when, at the early 60´s, her teachings contributed to the formation of the group from the Judson Memorial Church. (Baril, 1978: 200).

In her work, Cunningham uses what it has been agreed in considering as the consequence of random intervention. In respect to music, her long lasting association with John Cage lead her to work in tight collaboration with the mentioned composer and to experiment along with him the different procedures that were presented as new means, born from random, without thereby elaborate an empiric composition process.

The great dance independence in respect to the accompanying sound authorize Merce Cunninghma to use a great diversity of musical support. At her beginnings, she mainly chose pieces written for piano by John Cage. From 1972, she composed a choreography upon concrete music by Pierre Schaeffer and progressively showed her tendency to vary its musical support at each new performance of a same choreographic composition to the point of becoming to use both instrumental and electronic music.

But the real Cunningham’s pictorial revolution starts at the moment she draws upon two eminent contemporary American painters: Robert Raushenberg and Jasper Johns. Throughout 10 years “1954-1964” Robert Raushenberg tightly collaborated with Cunningham’s company, making the decor and costumes of performances, such as: Suite for Five in Time and Space, 1956; Nocturnes, 1956; Labyrinthian Dances, 1957; Changeling, 1957; Antic Meet, 1958; Summerspace, 1958; From the Poems of White Stone, 1959; Gambit for Dancers and Orquestra, Ruñe, 1959;[2] Grises, 1960; Hands Birds, 1960; Waka, 1960; Music Walk with Dancers, 1960; Aeon, 1961; Field Dances, 1963; Story, 1963, and, in 1964, Pairea and Winterbranch. Even more, Raushenberg was not only in charge of the scenic lighting but he takes over, particularly, of the projections during the performances. Cunningham and Raushenberg’s personalities are closed and complementary. Mainly, because both conceive creation as an impression’s instantaneous reflex or as dictated by the immediate event. In example, Roger Raushenberg used setting of Story all he could at the very moment of the performance. After 1964, the designer-illuminator position was entrusted to Beverly Emmons, who kept it until 1968, when Richard Nelson took relieve of it. From 1967, Cunningham choose Jasper Johns as the company’s artistic adviser. Jasper Johns then asked to several painters to contribute to the performance of Cunningham’s new compositions. Jasper Johns turned to Frank Stella for Scramble, 1967; to Andy Warhol for Rainforest, 1968; to Robert Morris for Canfield, 1969, and to Neiljenney for Objects, 1970.

Jasper Johns supervise adaptation of a performance by Marcel Duchamp, The large glass, at Walkaround Time² ,1968; and personally makes costumes from Second Hand, 1970; Landrover, 1972; Tv Rerun, 1972[3], as well as decor and costumes from Un Jour ou deux, 1973.

From 1973 Cunningham dabbled with the use of multimedia elements that she integrated to her performances and in 1974, Merce Cunningham turned to new collaborators to the creation of her works. She turned particularly to Charles Atlas for the creation of Westbeth, which premiere took place at New York on February 14th, 1975, and to Nam June Paik for another creation in video, WNET/TV Lab, also in 1075, Squaregame Video 1976.

2.2. Pina Bausch “1940-2009.”

Philippina Bausch, has a different path as a postmodern dance pioneer. German dancer, choreographer and director, pioneer in contemporary dance, Bausch proposes dance pieces composed by expression, body movements, emotions and sounds produced by the dancers that participate in her company, and scenery shaping parts framed in the dance-theater movement, from which she is a pioneer and influence around the world. She graduated at the age of 19 from Folkwang School and won a scholarship to continue her studies at Juilliard School from 1960, having as teachers Antony Tudor, José Limón, Alfredo Corvino and Paul Taylor.

After her stay in the United States, Bausch came back to Germany where her first teacher, Kurt Joos invited her to his recently founded Folkwang Ballet Company in 1962 at first as Joss’ assistant and after as soloist. In 1968 directed her first choreography Fragment, with Bartok’s music; the following year se became Joos’ successor as artistic director.

In 1972, accepted the direction from the Wuppertal Opera Ballet which later she would change its name toTantzheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, where, in 1974 premiered Fritz; after it she continued doing choreographic research mixing scenic dance-opera from where her performances Iphigenia in Tauris and Orpheus and Eurydice. Later, she premiered pieces that can be cosidered autobiographic, such as Café Mueller 1978, Bandoneón 1987, and Lilies of the valley[4], emerged. Pina declared that Café Mueller[5] is not exactly an autobiographic piece, “in fact, it is not”, Pina Bausch said. “In any case, it would be autobiographic from all of those who have worked in it”, although, repeatedly, she talked about the relationship between coffee and the fact that her parents owned a coffee shop, where she lived her childhood.

Pina joined the theater resources and analytic psychodrama to express the psychic and social automatism.Its composition base are the emotional experiences of her performers exploring body expressive possibility and from the gestures that produce aesthetic images, that reflex the body’s worldly trapped in the drives of desire.

Action must come out with total sincerity, she says; to achieve that just let each one to express him/herself in accordance with their inner motivations. After it, comes an adaptation of that sentiment to what it wants to be done. Many times you do not have to touch anything up. (Salas, 1985: 9).

Pina Bausch thought that it was much better to work with dancers because these deal with expression with more liberty than actors do. “I prefer to be asked about things after watching my works. It is necessary to watch them previously, because each time for each person the effect is different”.

Representation of images extracted from every days life and reconverted in anticlimax portray, form a unitarian and compact whole, of a dangerous density. Pina Bausch had a rough personality. Her language is cryptic but assimilable, and reach the intention of not narrating but showing a painful reality, with any mask but letting introspection flow out.

She finished with the canonized body-idea models to show an heterogeneous reality in which movement acquires an enormous transgressor power. She appeared in two occasions on the screen with the movie directors Federico Fellini and Pedro Almodóvar. Performances by Pina Bausch do not follow any narrative structure neither a lineal progression. They are built starting from a series of episodes. Multiple simultaneous staging actions, images, her dancers use of life experiences, of daily activities, of texts, frequently directed to the audience and a great variety of music styles at the sound track are elements with Bausch’s recognizable label and that are now part of the dance-theater lexis in Europe[6].

Her nomadic character and her huge curiosity in investigating other cultures took Pina Bausch, from the 80’s on having many different residencies in many of the biggest capital cities of the world. Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Istanbul or Hong Kong have been some of them. All her works are performed by dancers from very different races and nationalities, that following with the peculiar working method of the director, they imply themselves with their personal emotions.

Investigation about human violence and pain during the 80’s ripped off the newyorker critique labeling her work as eurotrash but in time it becomes of social-cultural interest, thematicizing the conflictive relationships between the individual and the group, with particular interest in sexual, ethnic and political minorities, which generated more acceptance from the critical.

The success reached by the artist has not been devoided of controversy about her work. Wuppertal’s audience, in example, was divided: on one side a compact fans group, on the other, a front of convinced detractors, from which the more violent ones covered Pina Bausch with insults and spits and tried to cut her hair off her head, while others woke her up in the middle of the night with telephone calls in which she was invited to leave the city. Reception of her work continued being object of controversy in the 90’s. As well as in Rome some fans paid ten times the price of an entrance ticket, shortly after, in London, a critical left the performance and wrote the following day: “It is better to hang around in the London dreary night than suffering the torture of a Pina Bausch’s spectacle at the Sadler’s Wells”. Pina Bausch has explored human most merciless and desperate side, therefore, it is not a coincidence that Pina Bausch and her performances had provoked so extreme and antithetical reactions. It is not a coincidence either that they claim unequivocal positions intakes. All her pieces are about fundamental maters of the human condition and push the audience to face itself with these problems: love and anxiety, nostalgia and sadness, solitude, frustration and terror, childhood and old age, death, man to man exploitation of man by man, memory and forgetfulness. (Bausch and Vázquez, 2006: 1).

3. Conclusions.

Starting from the analysis of these two great choreographers it is concluded that art and dance are the representation of a fictional reality built by the creator in search of generating imaginary worlds that are projected to the intellect of each viewer, integrate to the aesthetic experience their own wishes and daily experiences to make with the performance a unique vision.

Nevertheless, the viewer must have the will of letting be deceived by the visions that she creates during the performance, to the point of believing them more real than the real itself., believing that that moment is objective an rise the false to a higher power.

...movement acquire in contemporary dance another sense: it becomes an aesthetic gesture, in an aesthetic intention. Gesture is then a trail, something that develops through an image or a thing; these are its vehicle; in this case, body appears as a gesture’s depositary. Gesture in dance is trapped in the sense, despite of that not necessarily the artistic proposal is subscribed in the performance, but it tries to move forward in exploring art-life relationship, such as it is suggested many actual proposals in contemporary dance. (Le Breton, 2010: 15).

What it is discovered within the contemporary dance’s staging fact interpretation, it is not the sovereignty of a sign in particular but the fact that even in the shortest signs the viewer is traversed by a multiplicity of perspectives that compete among themselves to which is imposed an ephemeral stability. The necessity of sense is indomitable; the effort that carries it out complicates the speech possibilities and the multiple semiotic deviations generate a dissatisfaction feeling of multiple deviations, delays and for this reasons of failure. Not to all the signs that are generated in contemporary dance performances can be given a sense and there is where fractures between creator-performer and viewer begin.

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