IMPRO-EXCHANGE
Breaking open the moment
Live improvised meetings
In 2012, two IMPRO-EXCHANGE ‘12 laboratories will take place 30 August -1 September and 29 November – 1 December at Critical Path. Expressions of Interest via Critical Path are invited from dancers interested to participate in and collaborate over each of the labs as a process of professsional development. Public performances may be planned as culminative outcomes of each laboratory.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE is a process of intensive laboratories and public performances which aims to explore the nature of improvisation between dancers from different backgrounds, ages and traditions. It also aims to generate a forum of dialogue, exchange and discussion around strategies and processes of improvisation. Facilitated usually by Tess de Quincey in collaboration with Martin del Amo, each lab is intricately structured, has a specific focus (eg energy, motif, space, composition) which links and accumulates the experiences of previous labs.
As an ongoing project, IMPRO-EXCHANGE explores what can be instantly created between different traditions of dance – with different working practices and considerations. For example: What’s the point of moving? How and when will we make choices? What strategies emerge as a result of that? How do we compose through time? Can we maintain vulnerability and experimentation in front of an audience?
As part of each lab we generally include an improvisation for invited audience which is grounded in the exchange of observation and feedback. These performances have often included a specific relationship, 2006 being a 1-hour interdisciplinary exploration, 2007 an open-ended site relationship, 2009 a 2-hr durational performance, 2010 a 2-hr durational performance followed by a 1-hr performance and in 2011 a one hour performance. These performances are an extension of the observation and feedback that is inherent within the planned structure of each lab and which is an integral aspect of BodyWeather, the formative practice underlying the structuring of Impro-Exchange.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2011-2
“Cubic Space – Internal & External”, 24-26 November with dancers Narelle Benjamin, Sofie Burgoyne, Alice Cummins, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Ryuichi Fujimura, Maya Gavish, Raghav Handa, Nikki Heywood, Nick Keys, Kirsty Kiloh, Lian Loke, Linda Luke, Caterina Mocciola, Katina Olsen, Kathryn Puie and Miranda Wheen.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2011-1
“Cubic Space – Physics & The Imagination”, 12-14 May with dancers Narelle Benjamin, Sarah Black, Alice Cummins, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Peter Fraser, Raghav Handa, Gareth Hart, Nikki Heywood, WeiZen Ho, Victoria Hunt, Kirsty Kiloh, Linda Luke, Jeremy Neideck, Katina Olsen, Ellen Riis and Vicki van Hout.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2010-3
“Composition”, 2-4 December with dancers Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Ryuichi Fujimura, Kirsty Kiloh, Linda Luke, Shaun McLeod, Venettia Millar, Latai Taumoepeau and Vicki van Hout.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2010-2
“Energy & Structure”, 4-6 November with dancers Narelle Benjamin, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Peter Fraser, Ryuichi Fujimura, Kirsty Kiloh, Kathryn Puie, Alan Schacher, Nancy Wijohn.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2010-1
“Space & Time”, 20-22 May with dancers Narelle Benjamin, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Ryuichi Fujimura, Alexandra Harrison, Mark Hill, WeiZen Ho, Victoria Hunt, Lian Loke, Linda Luke, Annalouise Paul, Latai Taumoepeau.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2009
26-28 February
dancers Narelle Benjamin, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Jade Dewi Tyas Tunggal, Peter Fraser, Ryuichi Fujimura, Ghenoa Geia, Lian Loke, Linda Luke, Ahil Ratnamohan, Alan Schacher and Vicki Van Hout.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2007
“An Improvisation Engine”, 19-21 November led by Oguri with dancers Henrietta Baird, Narelle Benjamin, Tom Davies, Martin del Amo, T J Eckleberg, Janie Gibson, Nikki Heywood, Victoria Hunt, Kirsty Kiloh, Lian Loke, Linda Luke, Lee Pemberton.
IMPRO-EXCHANGE 2006
11 & 18 & 19 November with 26 dancers & musicians
dancers Narelle Benjamin, Tom Davies, Tess de Quincey, Martin del Amo, Peter Fraser, Alexandra Harrison, Kristina Harrison, Victoria Hunt, Linda Luke, Lizzie Thomson, Yumi Umiumare, Bernadette Walong, Tony Yap.
musicians Chris Abrahams, Karen Booth, Monica Brooks, Clare Cooper, Jim Denley, Rosie Dennis, Dale Gorfinkel, Sachiko M, Emily Morandini, Michael Sheridan, Amanda Stewart, Clayton Thomas, Ami Yoshida.
These laboratories have been funded by Critical Path, an organisation dedicated to the development of dance in NSW, and supported by Performance Space in 2010; they are also assisted by De Quincey Co through THE WEATHER EXCHANGE, an initiative supporting the development of artists based in BodyWeather and related disciplines.
