Stockholm University of the Arts 2021 Supervisors: Zoë Poluch and Josefine Wikström
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Against Neutrality and Minimalism, Choreographing Drama: A Degree Project in four acts Wilma Seppälä BA in Dance Performance Stockholm University of the Arts 2021 Supervisors: Zoë Poluch and Josefine Wikström
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 2 Reading Instructions 3 Act One 3 Introduction 5 Introducing methods, tools and scores 7 Scene with someone from the past 9 Act Two 9 Childhood story 12 Act Three 14 Revelation song 15 Words I am not afraid of 16 YES MANIFESTO 17 Producing and evoking feelings 18 Last words before the fourth and final act 18 Act Four: Scene of Sentimentality 19 Bibliography Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 1
Reading Instructions This degree work is written in the format of a play. The play contains real life people and real life quotes but I have also taken the artistic freedom to add fictional lines for some of the "characters". Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 2
Act One Introduction ( The stage in the building of Brinellvägen 58 in Stockholm is being lit with a simple spotlight. Wilma sits on a chair center stage.) Wilma: (Speaking passionately) How to choreograph drama? How to use feelings and emotions as dance material? What is dramatic and expressive performing and where to find it? How to do feelings rather than just feel them? (Invisible narrator enters the stage.) Narrator: Having her point of departure in frustration towards "neutral" performing and minimalism in contemporary dance and being tired of dealing with the heritage of Judson Church1, Wilma started to explore extreme feelings and emotions in relation to physicality/ dancing/ performing, contrasts, desire(s) and theatrical elements in her degree project process. Examples of these emotions were love, pain and ardor. Her aim was to create a dramatic stage piece that could be witnessed by an audience. A big focus of the process also laid in practicing the role of choreographer. Dancers of the piece are Wilma's peers Wilma Maunula, Taika Rautiainen, Tone Johannessen and Mariê Mazer. Oh, it looks like someone wants to add something t... ( A grumpy looking muttering old man stumbles to the stage in a toga.) Plato: (Mansplaining in a serious manner) Drama corrupts by appealing to the lower parts of our nature, encouraging us to indulge in weeping and laughter. 1 The Judson artists were a group of choreographers, visual artists, composers, and filmmakers in New York in the 1960s who were busy with redefining of what counted as dance, stripping it from its theatrical conventions. Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 3
Dramatic poets must be kept away from the ideal city: they should be anointed with myrrh, crowned with garlands, and sent on their way.2 Narrator: (Slightly irritated) Thank you for your opinion dear Plato... Now back to where we were. Wilma, what do you actually mean by having frustration towards "neutral" performing and minimalism in contemporary dance? Could you tell us a bit about that? Wilma: First of all, I am coming from the experience and perspective of being a dance student in two contemporary dance educations3, in Finland and in Sweden between years 2015-‐2021, and being both a dancer and and an audience member in contemporary dance performances. I am going to generalize things a lot. Some aspects that I connect to neutrality and minimalism are: -‐ Never being encouraged to approach dancing through or with emotions. A lack of enjoyment and pleasure. Having often only physical, for example anatomical, or theoretical perspective to dancing. -‐ Never practicing facial expressions or face muscles as part of dancing. -‐ From the audience perspective, experiencing a way of performing that makes me perceive the dancer(s) as socially and emotionally distant, cold, dry, non-‐ feeling beings. Also here, a lack of enjoyment and pleasure. -‐ Using ambient music as sound design that you don't relate to in your dancing. -‐ Saying no to virtuosity. Narrator: And to move away from these approaches and ways of doing you invited some helping hands to accompany your process... Now let's hear some 2 This quote on Plato's views on poetry is from an introduction in Aristotle's Poetics written by Anthony Kenny. Anthony Kenny, "Introduction" in Aristotle's Poetics, (Oxford University Press 2013), xii. 3 North Karelia College Outokumpu Dance Education and BA in Dance Performance in Stockholm University of the Arts Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 4
words from the methods, tools and scores that Wilma and her dancers worked with along the way! Introducing methods, tools and scores (Wilma steps aside with her chair. Grandiose music plays, sidelights fade in. The methods, tools and scores descend from the ceiling to the center stage.) The task of Walking -‐ Actions (also known as Wactions): (Communicating in an exceptionally clear manner) With me you start by walking in space. (Walks in space) Then you begin interrupting and cutting your walk with actions that you don't plan ahead. (Makes some improvised movements) The main principles are: 1. Commit to your action 2. Be fully present in what you're doing. Exaggerate it. 3. Aim for clarity in movement, quality, feeling, direction etc. Radiate clarity not only for yourself as a doer but also outside: if someone was your audience your actions would be clear for them as well. 4. Next level: Add drama into your doing. How does this change it? Or does it? The Face Dance: (Moving expressively) Well this is simply about dancing with your face. Move the material of your face! (Dances a weird dance with its tongue) Go through different "emotional faces", explore how to move in them, let them vibrate and be blurry also. (Makes faces) You can move only one part of the face at a time and/or explore repetition in the face. Tics in the face! Playing with accents! Tension! Scale between minimum-‐maximum! (Extends all its limbs, including a very long tongue, to a large reach) Part of the face dance is practicing silent shouting, laughing and crying. It is all fake, don't worry, you don't have to achieve a real emotion. Remember to breath! (Does fire-‐breathing) Tag of Pain: (Having cramps every now and then) Here we start again by walking in space. You can exaggerate a so called neutral walk where your face says nothing, your gaze is empty and you don't have an eye contact with anyone. Yes, Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 5
there
has
to
be
more
than
one
participant
in
this
exercise.
Anyways,
every
time
someone
gets
tagged,
they
have
a
very
dramatic
and
strong
physical
reaction
to
the
touch,
like
they
were
in
huge
pain.
Exaggerate
and
fully
commit
into
your
fake
pain!
(Falls
down
to
the
floor
in
pain)
(Methods,
tools
and
scores
exit
the
stage
crawling
to
the
front
right
corner.)
Narrator:
Now
Wilma
wants
to
travel
back
to
the
beginning
of
her
process
and
share
some
notes,
thoughts
and
questions
from
the
first
working
week.
Wilma:
(Contemplatively)
Not
feeling
feelings
but
rather
doing
them.
And
maybe
then
a
"real"
feeling
might
also
appear...
Although
that
is
not
the
goal.
What
is
it
to
approach
emotional
states
and
feelings
through
physical
tasks?
When
the
strong
expression
is
only
in
the
face
there
is
eagerness
and
tension
in
the
body...
It
is
interesting
to
follow
how
the
situation
evolves
when
one
stays
with
the
tension
and
does
not
let
it
out.
Narrator:
And
here's
Wilma's
5-‐minute
writing
after
doing
Walking-‐Actions
for
5
minutes
on
Monday
the
2nd
of
November
in
studio
9
with
one
of
her
dancers
Taika
Rautiainen:
Wilma:
Falling
falling
falling
-‐-‐>
repetition
Creating
a
change
What
is
the
opposite
of
what
I
am
busy
with
right
now?
How
do
I
create
a
contrast?
What
happens
when
I
say
add
drama
in
to
it?
Going
against
the
music
or
with
it
Jumping
in
an
unexpect
place
and
moment
I
feel
like
reacting
to
(everything)
what's
happening
and/exists
in
the
space
is
somehow
crucial,
there
has
to
be
some
kind
of
connections
going
on.
Seppälä,
Wilma,
DU2021
6
Scene
with
someone
from
the
past
(The
lights
dim,
Wilma
opens
her
MacBook
and
starts
a
Zoom
call.
Pixelated
Elina
Pirinen
appears
on
to
the
computer
screen.)
Narrator:
An
artist
whose
work
highly
inspires
Wilma
is
Finnish
choreographer
Elina
Pirinen.
Her
work
deals
a
lot
with
emotions
and
feelings.
Let's
hear
how
she
described
her
work
in
an
interview4
in
August
2018:
Pirinen:
(Voice
cracking
at
times)
I’ve
tried
mightily
to
bring
out
the
psychoanalytic
physicality
of
contemporary
dance.
My
pieces
strive
to
create
bodily
states,
feelings,
emotions,
and
the
stage
dynamics
they
produce.
-‐-‐-‐
A
person’s
body
is
tuned
to
be
full
of
psychoactive
processes,
and
my
job
is
to
somehow
try
to
coax
out
that
physicality,
to
see
the
person
in
their
entirety.
-‐-‐-‐
I
have
a
feminist
orientation,
so
I
prefer
to
talk
about
fantasy,
about
the
fantasies
that
arise
from
the
thoughts
and
emotions
the
performing
arts
can
paint.
-‐-‐-‐
Capitalism
is
trying
to
blot
out
human
reality,
but
the
post-‐
humanist
trend
in
dance
is
also
blotting
out
the
role
of
the
human.
It’s
understandable
because
the
human
relationship
to
other
living
things
is
so
disheartening.
But
we
need
constructive,
radical
imagination
and
risk-‐taking.
And
for
that
we
need
a
person
who
will
keep
examining
things
more
deeply.
When
I
look
at
what’s
happening
in
the
world,
many
people
could
benefit
from
the
modern
psychoanalytic
process
if
it
were
just
more
readily
available.
Wilma:
First
time
I
encountered
Pirinen's
work
was
in
2015
in
a
dance
workshop
festival
Sukset
Ristiin
Susirajalla,
in
Nurmes
which
is
a
small
town
in
Eastern
Finland.
I
took
part
in
her
workshop
where
I
felt
for
the
first
time
that
something
connected
my
dancing
and
theatre
making.
Later
I
saw
her
piece
Personal
Symphonic
Moment,
first
in
2015
and
second
time
in
2017.
The
piece
made
a
strong
impact
on
me
with
its
daring
humour,
shameless
bodily
moments
and
unpredictable
dramaturgy.
While
she
was
teaching
Pirinen
sometimes
quoted
legendary
German
choreographer
Pina
Bausch
by
saying
"Go
deeper"
and
"Keep
yourself
busy".
In
4
Raisa
Rauhamaa,
translated
by
Lola
Rogers,
"ELINA
PIRINEN
–
CRAZY
SENSITIVE
CORPOREAL
PAINTER
OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL
STATES,"Finnish
Dance
in
Focus
magazine,
vol
20.
August,
2018,
34-‐35.
https://www.danceinfo.fi/en/news/elina-‐pirinen-‐crazy-‐sensitive-‐corporeal-‐
painter-‐of-‐psychological-‐states/
Seppälä,
Wilma,
DU2021
7
addition to exploring physicality, dancing can always be about huge inner work and that was something Elina encouraged us to try. (Rumbling sounds behind the stage. Pina Bausch with a long red dress on and a cigarette in her mouth breaks the back wall and spins in like a storm.) Bausch: (Enraged with a low tone voice) Aren't you giving me the floor??? Narrator, Wilma and Pirinen: (Frightened in chorus) But of course saint Pina! Bausch: (Irritated) These fool artists nowadays don't know how to respect the masters of the past... I did a lot of work that has influenced this little Wilma here for sure! My works were known for their emotional force and unmediated physicality and a great sense for drama and humour. I had a very specific process in which I went about creating emotions. Improvisation and the memory of [the dancer's] own experiences... I asked questions—about parents, childhood, feelings in specific situations, the use of objects, dislikes, injuries, aspirations. From the answers we developed gestures, sentences, dialogues, little scenes.5 (Bausch exits the stage and sits in the audience. Lights another cigarette. Wilma closes the Zoom call with Elina Pirinen and puts the computer aside.) Wilma: It seems to me that Bausch's approach was similar to the acting practices, like Stanislavski method, I've encountered. In some of the acting exercises you think of personal memories to be able to produce a certain feeling for your character. The way I see this method is that it often gives one the 5 This line from imaginary Pina Bausch was informed by text from Norbert Servos on the official webpage of Pina Bausch and the Pina Bausch Wikipedia page. Norbert Servos, translated by Steph Morris, "The foundation of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch", accessed January 13, 2021, http://www.pina-‐bausch.de/en/pina/biography/ "Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch", accessed January 13, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pina_Bausch Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 8
desired result but also easily puts them into a "real" feeling. I've been trying to avoid that way of working in this artistic process. Now I have been interested in going into the physicality of feelings rather than actually feeling feelings. It is a lot about faking I guess. When practicing with my dancers Rautiainen, Johannessen, Mazer and Maunula, they often mentioned the feeling of fakeness and how that felt difficult and a bit wrong at times. In those moments I just encouraged them to stay busy with the physical task and not care so much how they felt on an emotional level since there was no certain place we were aiming at in real feeling. Act Two Childhood story Narrator: In order to explore the origins of Wilma's research process we need to go further back and travel in to her childhood. (The Brinellvägen stage turns into a theatre space in the premises of an old institutional kitchen in Tampere, Finland. There is a stage that also has a balcony kind of upper level. Rising audience seating. In the right back corner of the seats there is a tech booth, which is a place where Wilma is not allowed to go and actually didn't know how to climb there herself. There is an office space upstairs. Its walls are covered with posters of past performances. Office's old landline phone is always shut down when there is a rehearsal going on and then Wilma must also stay quiet. Her parents have always packed her some drawing pens and snacks so she won't get bored in the theatre. When she is not drawing she sits in the audience and follows the rehearsals.) Wilma: I come from a theatre family where especially as a very small kid I was always very close to my parents' work. They both worked in the same theatre, called Legioonateatteri, that my mother originally founded in 1994, the same year I was born. Being small, they seldom got me a babysitter and instead took me to the theatre rehearsals after picking me up from the kindergarden. Several Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 9
evenings
of
my
childhood
I
spent
in
the
audience,
watching
the
actors
rehearse
and
my
parents
directing
them
with
their
dynamic,
energetic
and
sometimes
aggressive
way
of
working.
Both
of
them
sweared
like
sailors
and
shouted
a
lot
while
directing.
I
remember
my
father
communicating
a
lot
with
his
hands,
clapping
and
snapping
his
fingers.
Almost
as
if
he
had
trained
dogs...
Coming
from
the
canon
of
Finnish
theatre
and
being
influenced
by
Finnish
director
Jouko
Turkka,
the
90s
way
of
acting
in
Legioonateatteri
was
often
a
lot
a
about
extremities
in
emotional
states
and
connecting
with
physicality
rather
than
subtlety
or
verbal
skills.
When
there
was
screaming
it
happened
in
the
loudest
possible
way
with
the
full
power
of
the
15
people
crew.
Legioonateatteri
moment
from
the
play
Minä
muistan!
(translation:
I
remember!)
that
was
directed
by
my
mom
Virpi
Koskela
and
written
by
my
father
Timo
Seppälä
in
1994.
It
was
a
spectacle
in
two
acts.
(A
large
cloud
of
smoke
appears
on
the
stage.
A
figure
of
a
bald,
big-‐eyed
man
emerges
from
the
smoke
and
laughs.
Wilma
falls
off
her
chair.)
Wilma:
It's
the
ghost
of
Jouko
Turkka!
Jouko
Turkka:
(With
madness
in
his
eyes):
I
was
born
in
1942!
And
I
died
in
2016!
I
was
a
theatre
director
that
had
a
big
influence
on
the
Finnish
theatre
scene!
I
created
famous
methods
and
trends!
I
worked
as
the
director
of
the
acting
programme
in
1981-‐1988,
as
director
of
the
directing
programme
in
1985-‐1988
and
in
1982-‐1985
as
the
headmaster
of
the
whole
Theatre
Academy
in
Helsinki.
I
had
a
lot
of
power!
My
methods
included
extremely
intense
and
Seppälä,
Wilma,
DU2021
10
exhausting physical work and training that operated as a gateway to emotions in acting. In addition to all the potential positive affects a lot of people say that my methods were highly problematic and pushing people to their mental and physical limits and created a lot of trauma. But in my time I was a genious! Not many people questioned my way of working... before the beginning of 2000. Shit hit the fan for real with the Me Too movement. Luckily I was dead by then and didn't have to deal with the criticism and sanctions.6 Since almost every Finnish actor and director that went to school in the 1980s was my student, the theatre scene has been dealing with my legacy (and the traumas) in different ways to this very day. After my death in 2016 there has been several performances made about the numerous problems I left behind.7 (Wilma quickly pulls out a small bottle from her pocket and Turkka's ghost gets sucked in letting out a frustrated moan. Wilma closes the bottle tightly and throws it in the back corner of the stage. She sits back on to her chair. The scene travels back to the stage in Brinellvägen 58.) Wilma: (Continuing her story a bit out of breath) Maybe witnessing a lot of theatre as a kid laid the foundation for my own path in the field of arts. For a long time I was one foot in theatre making, other in dancing. In the end I stepped my both feet into dance, still carrying my experiences, knowledge and love for theatre with me. Now I have also gotten opportunities to combine all of this knowledge. During two summers I have taught a month-‐long movement and performance workshop to the people of Legioonateatteri. It has been a great experience and learning process and it seems funnily symbolic that the little Wilma of the past who spent time drawing and sitting in the audience has now tried on the director's boots in this weird theatre family business. 6 Information on years taken from Jouko Turkka Wikipedia page. "Teatterikorkeakoulu", accessed January 13, 2021, https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jouko_Turkka 7 Examples of performances dealing with Jouko Turkka are plays Turkka kuolee by Ruusu Haarla & Julia Lappalainen from 2018 and Vaahtoa! by Minna Hokkanen and Anna Ackerman from 2018. Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 11
The years 2015-‐2021 have been a time of realizations for me in art making. I've gotten the time and tools to understand that something doesn't have to be 100 percent, full on or felt to the most extreme to be able to be something valuable. That idea of extreme doing most probably came from my theatre background but also from the dance culture I started and trained in for many years doing ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. These last five years spent in two different contemporary dance educations have given me the time to also explore subtle layers of dancing, moving, performing and being. But now it feels like there is something in the extreme, drama, emotions and theatricality I want to go towards. A curiosity of visiting a familiar place after several years. Act Three (The invisible narrator brings Wilma her diary collection. Wilma starts skim-‐ reading one of her diaries while speaking to the audience.) Wilma: I like to get passionate about the things I do. That motivates me. I want to immerse myself in processes. But sometimes I have to remind myself to appriciate all the moods, all the tones of grey and not only the bright colours. This is a thought I picked from Eleanor Bauer when we had her workshop last autumn. (Eleanor Bauer runs to the stage in a speech flood, dancing and speaking simultaneously) Eleanor Bauer: (Directing her moving speech to the audience) Hello, hello, hello! I am a performer and choreographer working at the intersections of dance, writing, and music. My work is rooted in syntheses of embodied intelligences in my practice of making sense with the senses in performance. From solos to talk shows to large ensemble pieces, my versatile works range in scale, media, and genre traversing categories of performance with wit, humor, and aplomb. I am Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 12
currently based in Stockholm and being a PhD candidate in Choreography at Stockholm University of the Arts.8 For Wilma's class I taught a workshop on method. When you have different methods, together they can form a methodology. And that becomes a cosmology... A chronology... Biology, onthology... In a dormitory... (Continuing playing with words and dancing while exiting the stage) (Wilma watches Bauer disappearing) Wilma: (Continuing confused) What am I actually trying to do? What am I busy with? What do I feel right now? Tension in my diagphragm, restlessness. I've noticed that I get crumpy quite easily these days. It is so lunatic to make an artpiece during a global pandemic. We are not able to have any live audience in our degree presentations, except on live stream. Honestly it feels a bit lame since I am interested in the vibes that are between live audience and the performance. That doesn't happen in a similar way through screens I suppose. I keep thinking of the phrase "Hard Times Require Furious Dancing"9. And keep going back to the last time I was in a great party with friends. There I danced so furiously it was like therapy. How do I build a setting for something dramatic and furious to arise? It seems like saying "dance in a furious way" is not enough. I realized that in the session with Mazer, Rautiainen and our guest-‐collaborator Sonja Aaltonen where we touched upon the topic of excitement. I can't just tell the dancers to be excited. A situation has to be built. Conditions have to be created for certain qualities to emerge. Going against the legacy of Judson Church. I want to underline that I am very much aware that when going against a certain conventions/practices/traditions I am going towards some other conventions/practices/traditions. In this case I am dealing a lot with theatrical elements for example. It is not about inventing 8 Eleanor Bauer, "Bio & CV", accessed January 13, 2021, https://goodmove.be/B-‐I-‐O-‐C-‐V 9 The phrase is the name of Alice Walker's poetry book. Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 13
something new or operating in a vacuum. I guess one could even say that there is nothing new to be invented anymore. Maybe the frustration that I have comes from the fact that in contemporary dance we are often going towards something new, making an innovation and finding a new perspective. It is very tiring and in the long run not that sustainable. It operates almost in the same logic as the technology industry which is always inventing a new model, a new feature, next level. And isn't that connected to capitalism then?10 Why always be so busy with inventions since there is so much to do with the already existing things? Also as an audience member I often enjoy witnessing something that I recognise. "Conventions are sometimes ok!"11 Let's admit it: sometimes I am A VERY TRADITIONAL PERSON when it comes to arts. I love big theatres. I love big music. I love dancing to music. I love big "traditional" performing. "Am I a modernist?" I wrote in my diary in spring 2020. This was after hearing Swedish choreographer Marie Fahlin's lecture on her ways of working. She found it modernistic to have a vision of "the Thing, the Piece" when approaching art making and creating a performance. I guess that is exactly how I sometimes work. (Narrator brings a microphone to the front of the stage. Instrumental rock music starts playing and Wilma goes to the microphone.) Revelation song (To be sung passionately, at times even furiously and with a lot of hand gestures and expressions in the face.) Wilma: I like (some) conventions I like clarity 10 These thoughts were highly inspired by the discussions our class had with Fabian Barba as a part of a two-‐week workshop in October 2020. 11 Zoë Poluch's comment on my work-‐in-‐progress degree work in a group supervision session. Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 14
I like dancing to music I like emotions I like David Zambrano's work (eventhough everyone criticizes his working methods) I like jokes I like lipsyncing I like ballet I like shouting I like virtuosity I like wow effects I like clear rights and wrongs I like when it is too much I like exhaustion I like when a teacher pushes you to explore your limits I like blunt feedback (The instrumental rock music changes to a more upbeat and jazzy one. Wilma leaves the microphone and watches as Meg Stuart and Mette Ingvartsen enter the stage. Their monologues can be sung in major.) Stuart: (Takes the microphone and sings while Ingvartsen dances in the background) Words I am not afraid of Now I have more words on my list, like pathos, sentimentality, illusion, cliché, boredom, exhaustion, love, and it continues to grow. I could add theatre, scenography, costumes, intuition, indecision, enthusiasm. Around 2000 there was a schism among choreographers, in Europe anyway, between those performing "conceptual ideas" and those working with "dance and theatrical concerns". With the conceptual approach there seemed to be an assumption that to articulate one's ideas, one had to adopt neutral pedestrian behaviour, reject theatricality and even resist movement altogether. I hate assumptions in choreographic practice. A lot has happened since the 1960s and Judson Church. I completely support the ongoing re-‐examination of the Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 15
performative contract of dance-‐making, but at a certain moment I felt like screaming: What about bodies performing ideas while being completely out of balance? What about bodies in crisis? Bodies that are not in control? What about complex physical and emotional states? Is it possible to give these irrational bodies a platform to address contemporary issues in a theatrical context?12 Narrator: (Shouting over the music) Also Mette Ingvartsen had some friction with Judson Church in 2004! In connection with her work 50/50 that "works on extreme and spectacular expressions"13 she made Yes manifesto that could be seen as a counterforce to No manifesto done by Yvonne Rainer in 1965! (Ingvartsen grabs the microphone fiercely and starts singing) Ingvartsen: In spite of manifestos belonging to the past – here comes another one. YES MANIFESTO Yes to redefining virtuosity Yes to “invention” (however impossible) Yes to conceptualizing experience, affects and sensation Yes to materiality and body practice Yes to expression Yes to un-‐naming, decoding and recoding expression Yes to non-‐recognition, non-‐resemblance Yes to non-‐sense/illogics Yes to organizing principles rather than fixed logic systems Yes to moving the “clear concept” behind the actual performance of Yes to methodology and procedures Yes to editing and animation 12 Meg Stuart, "Words I am not afraid of" in Are We Here Yet?, ed. Jeroen Peeters (Les presses du réel, Dijon, 2010), 174. 13 Mette Ingvartsen, "50/50", accessed January 13, 2021, https://www.metteingvartsen.net/performance/5050/ Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 16
Yes
to
style
as
a
result
of
procedure
and
specificity
of
a
proposal
(meaning
each
proposal
has
another
“style”/specificity,
and
in
this
sense
the
work
cannot
be
considered
essentialist.)
Yes
to
multiplicity,
difference
and
co-‐existence
(Music
ends
with
a
high
crescendo
and
fireworks
are
fired
from
both
back
corners.
Stuart
and
Ingvartsen
leave
the
stage
and
take
seats
in
the
audience
next
to
Pina
Bausch.)
Wilma:
Wow...
Thank
you
Meg
and
Mette.
I
really
liked
your
performance,
especially
this
manifesto
from
Ingvartsen!
Some
parts
of
it
I
strongly
relate
to
in
my
process.
Having
taught
in
several
art
educations
my
mum
always
says
that
every
art
student
needs
to
find
their
own
friction
with
the
present
and
with
the
art
school
they
study
in
to
be
able
to
find
their
own
artistry,
their
own
counterforce
and
their
drive.
The
Judson
Church
went
against
the
expression
and
drama
that
modern
dance
had.
Althought
a
lot
has
happened
since
the
60s,
as
Meg
Stuart
says,
I
feel
like
we
are
still
busy
dealing
with
some
aspects
of
the
Judson
Church,
like
a
certain
kind
of
neutrality
in
the
way
we
perform
in
contemporary
dance
pieces.
And
that
is
something
I
feel
like
going
against,
I
find
my
friction
there.
I
am
saying
no
to
pedestrian
moving
and
empty
gazes.
Producing
and
evoking
feelings
Narrator:
One
focus
in
Wilma's
work
was
doing
feelings
and
emotional
states
through
physical
tasks.
One
example
of
this
was
face
dancing
together
with
fake
laughing,
crying
and
shouting.
There
was
a
big
interest
in
how
the
actions
done
on
stage
could
affect
the
ones
witnessing
them.
In
a
more
scientifical
context
it
has
been
proven
that
the
actions
can
be
higly
influencial
also
on
the
people
executing
them:
"A
number
of
studies
have
demonstrated
that
movements
and
postures
can
influence
the
affective
state
of
the
person
performing
them.
For
example,
people
find
messages
more
persuasive
when
required
to
move
their
head
up
and
down
(an
action
associated
with
agreement)
while
hearing
the
message
than
when
shaking
their
head
side-‐to
side
(
Wells
and
Petty
1980).
Strack,
Martin
and
Stepper
(1988)
found
that
when
participants
were
required
to
Seppälä,
Wilma,
DU2021
17
hold
a
pen
between
the
teeth,
producing
activation
of
the
facial
muscles
associated
with
smiling,
cartoons
were
evaluated
as
funnier
than
when
holding
the
pen
between
the
lips,
which
inhibits
smiling.
Hence,
body
postures
and
actions
that
express
emotion
can
also
automatically
evoke
the
associated
affective
states."14
Last
words
before
the
fourth
and
final
act
(Wilma
sits
on
her
chair
center
stage
one
last
time.)
Wilma:
In
this
artistic
process
I
have
been
interested
in
going
into
the
physicality
of
feelings
rather
than
actually
feeling
them.
But
I
also
highly
value
feeling
feelings.
Generally
I
would
love
to
see
our
society,
meaning
also
the
dance
world
start
to
welcome
feeling
different
emotions
more.
When
I
enter
a
white,
clean
and
empty
dance
studio
it
sometimes
feels
like
I
should
put
aside
the
emotional
parts
of
my
human
behaviour
because
dance
is
not
about
that.
But
of
course
it
is
also
about
that
since
dance
is
made
by
humans
who
live,
breathe
and
feel.
Often
dancing
operates
as
emotional
ventilating
for
me.
A
bit
like
therapy.
Never
been
to
therapy
though
but
I
guess
that
being
able
to
feel
secure
to
open
up
in
a
therapy
session
requires
that
the
space
welcomes
all
emotions
and
feelings
that
the
patient
has.
I
think
that
in
its
best
form
dancing
allows
emotions
to
be,
move
and
change
and
first
of
all,
accompany
dancing.
They
don't
have
to
become
the
star
of
the
hour
but
they
can
still
exist
and
even
say
something
every
once
in
a
while.
(Wilma
stands
up,
takes
the
chair
and
leaves
the
stage.
The
light
changes.)
Act
Four:
Scene
of
Sentimentality
(Dancers
Wilma
Maunula,
Tone
Johannessen,
Taika
Rautiainen
and
Mariê
Mazer
enter
the
stage.)
14
Amy
E.
Hayes
and
Steven
P.
Tipper,
"Affective
Responses
to
Everyday
Actions,"
in
Kinesthetic
Empathy
in
Creative
and
Cultural
Practices,
ed.
Dee
Reynolds
and
Matthew
Reason
(Intellect,
Bristol,
UK
/
Chicago,
USA,
2012),
70.
Seppälä,
Wilma,
DU2021
18
Bibliography Books: Hayes, E. Amy and Tipper, P. Steven."Affective Responses to Everyday Actions." In Kinesthetic Empathy in Creative and Cultural Practices, edited by Dee Reynolds and Matthew Reason, 70. Intellect, Bristol, UK / Chicago, USA, 2012. Kenny, Anthony, "Introduction" in Aristotle's Poetics translated with an Introduction and Notes by Anthony Kenny, xii. Oxford University Press, 2013. Stuart, Meg. "Words I am not afraid of". In Are We Here Yet?, edited by Jeroen Peeters, 174. Les presses du réel (Dijon), 2010. Articles: Rauhamaa, Raisa, translation Rogers, Lola. 2018. "ELINA PIRINEN – CRAZY SENSITIVE CORPOREAL PAINTER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES". Finnish Dance in Focus magazine, vol 20. August, 2018. https://www.danceinfo.fi/en/news/elina-‐pirinen-‐crazy-‐sensitive-‐corporeal-‐ painter-‐of-‐psychological-‐states/ Website content: Bauer, Eleanor "Bio & CV". Accessed January 13, 2021. https://goodmove.be/B-‐I-‐O-‐C-‐V Ingvartsen, Mette. "50/50". Accessed January 13, 2021. https://www.metteingvartsen.net/performance/5050/ Servos, Norbert translated by Morris, Steph. "The foundation of Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch". Accessed January 13, 2021. http://www.pina-‐bausch.de/en/pina/biography/ "Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch". Accessed January 13, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pina_Bausch Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 19
"Teatterikorkeakoulu". Accessed January 13, 2021. https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jouko_Turkka Seppälä, Wilma, DU2021 20
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