Would you care for a dance?

What better way to get intimate than with a dance – even with a building?

Intimacy reflected in the transformative relationship between form and space… by revealing secrets of rhyme and articulation in a well-determined architectural space… with close ups of body and movement… exposing links between old and new, static and moving art, bodies and buildings.

For the last few months I have been obsessing over an experiment inspired by my two passions: architecture and dance. Good projects are built on dichotomies, and in this case, thanks to Bernd Gundermann, I have pulled together two of my diverse interests, and collaborated with photographer/videographer and my dear friend, Sacha Stejko, to produce footage intended to showcase architecture at its most compelling.

Echoing the early stages of architectural design, we’ve had meetings discussing concept, budget and time frame; made site visits, dealt with licensing issues, engaged other dancers, etc. Preparation has, however, been anything but strenuous. 

So far, choreography has been prompted by fragments of improvisation in contemporary dance - on site, in the studio and even in the confinement (or shall I say comfort) of my apartment. The idea has been to develop a simple vocabulary of body gestures, personal to the individual dancer, which can then start a dialogue with both the space as well as the other dancers in a way that continues to alter and, at times, repeat, but is never ever completely finished.

This loose-ended notion establishes our point of difference as artists – optimistic and constantly on the verge of something offbeat. So what do we expect the outcome to be? We aren’t really sure… that is the beauty of it – but we do know that the unknown and the unplanned will be dynamic and worthy of the magnificent architectural space too!

[Editors note: Sacha Stejko is the amazing photographer who took the photos in the gallery. She will also be doing the videography for this super cool project. You can contact her via email or check her out on Facebook.]

- Posted Sept. 6, 2011