In the beginning of a life waiting is long. All forms of waiting. Waiting suggests that every possible sense of pleasure is absent. Perhaps that is the problem. That absence can only be comprehended as a form of subtraction, but only concerning good things. Other things don’t count, like carrying out garbage, being bullied at school or even simpler, a grey grey day. Waiting equals that something has been erased, the vacuity of direction. An observant person could reflect that it is necessity that has been blurred and one just have to sit tight until the blur falls back in line again. Necessity ..read more

Words from Artist Mårten Spångberg Something that brought Samantha and me together in the previous project and what we wish to continue to explore is questions around climate change, ecology and the influence contemporary society has on its environments. We are not interested in making art about the ecological crises or informing our audience about the urgency that climate change implies, but instead through our research develop work that in itself proposes, practices and engages in alternative ecologies. We share an understanding, that art is a unique place, in the sense of practice, act ..read more

Artist statement the relations between Relations, in the plural sense, refers to multiple connections or associations between two or more things. It can also refer to the way in which multiple things are connected or associated. This exploration of the relations between, the evolving and ongoing process of how we communicate  with each other and to nature within a digital context, inspired my work for this residency. During conversations that Mårten Spångberg  and I had , we talked about networks, though not just the expansive digital network of the internet but of nature. In parti ..read more

Performing Live Suspended in a welcoming journey of connectedness. The gentleness was warm and calm. Yet I felt conflicted: a heavy sadness, tangled and emotional. Separate but together. Cozy began to feel contained and confined. The light was gentle, peaceful, steady in expansion, carefully welcoming. The journey so bittersweet; free to expand and discover while gravity held me in a weighted sadness. Intentionally quiet I surrender to the light; free and connected, ready to evolve. Poem by Nicola Jacksonfrom her experience performing in Threading Side by Side/ Together (workshop & ..read more

Last Workshop with lolly b: Collaborating Presences lolly b and Renée Poisson dancing • Video stills: Geneviève Johnson Collaboration After a year of working alone, collaborations like these 4 one-on-one workshops that I just finished facilitating are like a very welcomed and much needed fresh breeze. As the participants added their piece to the kimono I felt they were giving it a second life, reanimating it. And I felt more alive myself: wanting to add to the kimono part of my last year journey – memories and traumas. I started to create a knitted scar and a short poem in motion stringin ..read more

Third Workshop with Renée: Morphing Presences Exchanging Guidance Giving Guiding movers through a personal journey paved with images is very fulfilling and inspiring for me. Bouncing back and forth each others explorations, ideas and words opens up a dynamic path to create new poems in motion. For the participants and for myself as well. These one-on-one workshops run smoothly now and each session morphs into what each participant needs in the moment. A genuine encounter of trust happens. Through this safe place of sharing movements and memories a lot of dance material is spontaneously create ..read more

Second Workshop with Nicola: Layering Presences The Workshop Separating the workshop from the filmed explorations made everything flow better. The exercises led to the guided filmed sections nicely. The prior practice with images and “becoming-other” really filled Nicola with intention and qualities for the second part. Nicola Jackson in dancing exploration • Video still Planning, guiding and filming “micro dances of the closeup” made for a very intimate moving collaboration between me, Nicola and the camera… I realized how the camera needs to become a dancing partner in order for the mag ..read more

First Workshop, Samantha: In Real Presence A Spontaneous Dive Being present, live, with someone and move in a beautiful outdoor setting was a real gift! There were magic moments… Samantha Letourneau • Video still from her workshop We ended up being so much into dancing and creating, I forgot half of what I structured to do and to record during our session. Filming was in the way of dancing instead of being part of it… Half the footage was unusable. But plenty of ideas came from it. Samantha Letourneau • Video still from her workshop Re-Structuring and Planning Instead of just one on ..read more

My Dance of the In-Between Video stills from Geneviève’s 2 films below Recovery as In-between State I am in the “in-between” of recovery: I cannot dance how I used to dance, I am not allowed to perform all range of movement yet. But there is the promise that I will be able to move as before… almost. How much as before? Nobody knows. Therefore, I decided for today to dance this in-between and film the sequences that arise I started by connecting with my right hip: my place of impossibility. My mind wanted to dive into my inner critic but I worked at letting it go. As I danced longer, a cho ..read more

In this blog, you will find a series of Butoh and Landscape Under Skin Theatre exercises. You can explore them as individual exercises to create short poems in motion. Make them yours by being creative with them.   Why did I choose these explorations in particular? I put these explorations together because they specifically relate to the individual workshop sessions I will be providing throughout the month of June. Some are new exercises. Some were in previous blogs. I gathered them all together here for you. (You still have until this coming Sunday May 30th to apply by sending me your a ..read more