Interview with Jasmina Križaj

Slovenian dance house Plesna Izba Maribor proposed Jasmina Križaj for modul-dance with the project The Very Delicious Piece. She talks about its development in this interview, done in October 2012 during the modul-dance conference that took place in Tilburg.

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Interview with Mala Kline

Mala Kline is one of the modul-dance artists selected in 2011. Her project, entitled Eden has been awarded in Slovenia. She was proposed for the modul-dance project by Kino Šiška Ljubljana. Interview done during the modul-dance conference that took place in Tilburg in October 2012.

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Meeting the ghost. By Antje Pfundtner

When I first heard about modul-dance and realised that 20 European dance houses would be taking part in this project I thought I’d struck the jackpot.

However, on a personal level, modul-dance remained a ghost in my eyes. Indeed, I did have my 3 partners with all of whom I had shared unquestionably fruitful experiences.

But somehow it was still a mystery to me how this huge network could have really worked between us all and how we could communicate. Meetings with my partners were on a one-to-one basis when I visited them. I choose the word “visit” as I was not seeking a residency but instead opted to visit them and engage in a number of experiments at their destinations or their festivals that were linked to my research at the time. Hellerau was the “only” partner who was able to handle the “presentation-modul”, and I am delighted and thankful for that. I say “able” as I have realised that the people involved in the modul-dance project like to make reference to the “weak” or “strong” partners one comes to rely on. I discovered that Hellerau constituted a strong partner as they were able to back the artistic project with funds. Perhaps I have won the jackpot after all? (not to say that I, personally did not find my other partners strong as well).

Modul-dance experience. By Sofia Dias & Vítor Roriz

When José Laginha, from Capa/Devir (a cultural structure in the sunny south coast of Portugal) introduced us to modul-dance network we knew very little of it, except that some other Portuguese choreographers (Tânia Carvalho and Cláudia Dias) had also been supported by it in the previous editions.

The meeting in Barcelona, in November 2012, was the first moment we got to grasp the dimension of this network. It was surprising to see the variety of artists, programmers and their specific projects/contexts of action. Although big in scale, the meeting seemed to have the right balance of formality and informality for an actual exchange to happen, and we were caught by its intensity and the way everyone was focused to make it significant and useful.

Modul-dance experience. By Tina Valentan

I was recommended by Plesna Izba Maribor as one of the modul-dance artists in 2012. They also promised to be the main producers of the performance and cover the premiere, so all I needed to get on board were at least three partners. I was seducing them in Barcelona and gave it all to catch their attention, which was not easy. It felt like I was a product on sale and they are buying. There was no big interest but in the end I got what I wanted; three research spaces/residencies, one in Portugal, one in Denmark and one in Slovenia. They offered working space, accommodation, travel costs and per diems, so all the basic needs were covered and I could focus on work, away from trivial obligations in my home town. Therefore going abroad seemed very beneficial for developing work and growing as an artist and as a human being.

Interview with Helena Franzén

In 2011 Helena Franzén was selected to create S” which premiered at Dansens Hus in Stockholm in September 2012. One month after, she talked with us about her project.

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Coraline Lamaison. By Bertram Müller

 

By Bertram Müller, Director of Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf.

The production process and the guest performance of Narcisses by Coraline Lamaison (France) was an excellent and instructive example of a European coproduction within the frame of the modul-dance project. The respective parts of the trilogy, which deals with the phenomenon of female narcissism in different ways, originated in three distinct places and premiered in three different places as well, in the last instance with the duet Narcisses-2.0, featuring the magnificent dancers Annabelle Chambon and Els Deceukelier.

Interview with Liz Roche

Interview with Irish choreographer Liz Roche done in Tilburg in October 2012. In the framework of modul-dance she developed Body and Forgetting.

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Modul-dance experience. By Perrine Valli

My experience with modul-dance began in 2010 at the first meeting held at the Maison de la Danse in Lyon. A group of about forty dance artists and professionals gathered there to get acquainted with each other. As opposed to what often happens, modul-dance endowed itself with the means to create a “true network” by inviting all these people to meet. Occasions rarely arise to create strong ties between structures and artists, and modul-dance came to allow just that.

What immediately struck my interest was the European dimension of this project. My company is based in two countries: Switzerland and France, and my work is deeply marked by this artistic “double life”. In each project I ask myself how these two countries, these two cultures, these two artistic worlds will influence my work. Even if they are neighbours, the politics, codes and ways of thinking of these countries differ, and this has enriched my artistic research. For example, Je pense comme une fille enlève sa robe is a piece that reflects on prostitution since this activity is legal in Switzerland and forbidden in France. In my research, I have met prostituted persons and worked in associations in both countries to understand how their practice is influenced by the political and cultural context of the countries where they live. Consequently, far from being provocative, this piece simply poses some questions and shows how the body and ways of thinking are highly subjective.

Interview with Tânia Carvalho

Tânia Carvalho is from Portugal and was proposed for the modul-dance project by HELLERAU-European Center for the Arts in Dresden. In the framework of the project she created Icosahedron, an impressive piece for 20 dancers.

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