In the weeks
leading up to Guelph Dance Festival 2013, some of the amazing
dance artists who will perform at the Festival will also share their vision
with us here on the blog. These intimate, behind-the-scenes looks will bring us
closer to the artistry, process, and experience of dance. We encourage you to
not just read these amazing stories, but to ask questions or engage in
conversation about dance in our comments section below. Welcome to our 15th
anniversary year!
Tracey: I was reading
an article and came across the line “by the very act
of watching, the observer affects the observed reality.” This was something I
had heard before but, as is often the case, this
time something about it registered with me differently. The article was
explaining the results of a scientific study in which particles behave
differently when viewed versus otherwise. I was interested in the human
application—the effect we have on each other’s reality by the very act of
observing or witnessing.
 |
| Witness. Photo by Craig Chambers. |
At about the same time as I read this
article, I was taking a workshop with Lee Su-Feh of Vancouver and about to
embark on a creative process with Jesse Dell and Jordana Deveau (JDdance).
Su-Feh’s workshop was called “Observing and Adjusting” and it had me thinking a
lot about “how” we see each other. And so the starting point for my work with
Jesse and Jordana stemmed from this interest in both how we come to witness one
another and how we alter our behaviour accordingly, based on our cognizance of
being watched. We worked on many physical tasks related to this interest that
led to developing a vocabulary for the work. During this time, I came to terms
with something that had been on my mind but unarticulated for a while: as
dancers we’ve chosen to participate in an art form in which we inherently
pronounce “watch me”, although we may not always be comfortable or embracing of
this idea. The performers I’m most intrigued by often display a certain mix of
comfortability and vulnerability in the knowledge of being watched. They’re
able to strip away ego (as much as is possible) and give and take equally with
an audience.
 |
| Witness. Photo by Craig Chambers. |
Witness was created in collaboration with Jesse and Jordana. The work asks
them to be both wild and precise; to execute intricate movements and
communicate in a specific language while sharing a real-time experience in which
the viewer is invited to witness and affect the performance. The movement
language is sometimes detailed, gestural and mysterious, while other times it
is large, risky and flies through space. Our outside eye for this work and all
of my work in recent years is veteran dance artist Julia Sasso.
 |
| Witness. Photo by Craig Chambers. |
Witness premiered at episodes
| andscapes, a co-production by JDdance and Tracey Norman with DanceWorks
CoWorks in April 2013. Prior to that it was shown in-progress at Series 8:08
and in excerpt form at Dance Ontario’s DanceWeekend 2013.
Toronto-based
dance artist Tracey Norman has
presented her choreography across Canada. Currently on faculty in the
Department of Dance at York University, Tracey received her MFA in Choreography
& Dramaturgy in 2010. www.traceynorman.com
JDdance (JDd) is a dance-theatre collective that was founded by
Jesse Dell and Jordana Deveau in 2009. JDd is a multifaceted collective that
strives to create, produce and present high caliber, thought-provoking, contemporary dance work. www.jddance.ca
Witness (excerpt) from
Tracey Norman on
Vimeo.
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Dance outside the box here!