FFW Dance and Dramaturgy Lab: (Im)personal Narratives

For one week, 10 practitioners from Macedonia, Balkan region and Sweden came together in Skopje/Macedonia, exploring the possibilities that personal and impersonal narratives offer to choreographic works.

move-work-talk-shop and a public presentation
15-20 October 2010
Skopje, Macedonia

Personal narrative as artistic act refers to situations, conventions, identities and experience. The relation between personal narrative and public identity was researched, through autobiographical stories, the performing and composing of identities.

Personal narratives form identities and social matrixes. The relationship between private stories and community memory or history, as well as the embodiment of social and political references through the representation of the body in movement will be the initial point of the research.

“Stories of the body told through the body which makes cultural conflict concrete and accessible.” Langellier, Voiceless

The move-work-talk-hop in Skopje explored a variety of dramaturgic models in choreographic work, including but not limited to devised work, documentary work, text-driven work and seeking to experiment with new formats. The lab aim was to inspire initiatives of collaborative art works.

Facilitator

Ivana Ivkovic (Croatia), performing arts researcher and dramaturg working with several regional and international dance companies. Member of performance collective BADco.

Guest lecturers

Mateusz Herczka (dramaturg and artist, Sweden) and Goran Stefanovski (dramaturg and screenwriter, Macedonia/G. Britain)

Participants

Vikorija Ilijoska(Macedonia), Aleksandar Georgiev (Macedonia), Igor Koruga (Serbia), Kliment Poposki (Macedonia), Esta Matković (Macedonia), Anna Asplind (Sweden), Rebecca Chentinell (Sweden), Esta Matkovic (Croatia), Domen Sega (Slovenia), Josefine Larson Olin (Sweden)

What did the participants think?

The evaluation (a questionnaire) responses were appreciative, particularly towards the format that allowed individual and collective input into the process, the cultural diversity of the participants and the democratic approach.

Most of the participants were inspired by the laboratory and have initiated projects with their peers, based on the participation in the laboratory.

“Coming from a country and a surrounding where information does not flow easily, participation within the FAST FORWARD programs (both in 2009 and 2010) brought me fresh and qualitative educational inputs with great efficiency. FAST FORWARD functions as a great artistic platform that enables the creation of different artistic collaborations and strong regional and international support.” Igor Koruga, Serbia

The lab had a public presentation during the LocoMotion Festival in Skopje.