conversations in ten questions 9 : Lisbeth Gruwez (Voetvolk) - It’s going to get worse and worse and worse, my friend
In this series of interviews we try to get to know the directors/choreographers who will be the international guests at the 23rd Istanbul Theatre Festival in November 2019. Our final guest is Lisbeth Gruwez.
Ayse Draz & Mehmet Kerem Ozel
Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Writer
[The Turkish translation of this interview is published and can be accessed on art.unlimited]
What is the spirit of dance in your opinion? How do you define contemporary dance today?
I think of my work, and maybe dance in general, as a vibration that reaches out to an audience in order to move them — physically as well as emotionally.
Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How?
I do not like to think of art in terms of 'force' or 'power', but I'm sure it can be a candlelight in the dark or even an explosion that blows up falsehood and make-believe.
When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works?
I always start from a specific question or problem I'm struggling with. Then I start to draw in my sketchbooks, dealing with this specific issue. My choreographies take shape in these sketchbooks — they are an imprint of my mind and soul. For this solo, I've also learned a lot from videos of speeches. I detected loads of different gestures from different speeches, small as well as big movements, and I've transformed them into a personal alphabet of different accents and qualities. For two months, I've done nothing but mixing and matching all these gestures, slowly growing towards a choreographic score.
When do you decide to give a title to a work you are working on if it already does not have one?
It depends on the show, of course. At first, I wanted to call this solo 'Ranting of the Body', but my long-time companion and composer, Maarten van Cauwenberghe, said it sounded way too 80s. 'It's going to get worse and worse and worse, my friend' is a line from a speech by the ultraconservative American televangelist Jimmy Swaggart which is heard throughout the piece. Maarten deconstructed the speech and I dance the trance of Swaggart's ecstatic speechifying — it's a tango, really, between dance and sound.
Is there any artist whom you can describe as "my master", or any person whom you think influenced your art most? And if there is such an artist or person, who?
I have a certain book I've been carrying around for many years now: The Art of Making Dances, by Doris Humphrey. It's a goldmine of wonderful ideas and knowledge.
What is your favourite of the speeches that made history?
Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’, for sure. The speech by Swaggart that we’ve used for our performance is awful, content-wise, but Swaggart’s voice is amazing. We’ve detached his words from the context they were written for. On their own, they have a universal quality.
How did the design process of the choreography developed in this work, which is based on a speech text?
It was a hell of a job to get it right as I'm not reacting to a fixed soundtrack. Maarten deconstructed Swaggart's speech into a sound design but is always performing it live. Every night I have to be as sharp as a knife to make sure I'm 'there' when he pushes the button, every night at a slightly different rhythm. It took us a very long time to achieve this complete symbiosis.
Is there anything in particular you want to tell people before they see this show? Is there anything particular you would like to tell the Istanbul audience?
No. To me, dance is much more about 'feeling' than about 'understanding' something. Come as you are, and dive in!
Ayse Draz & Mehmet Kerem Ozel
Art Unlimited Performing Arts Editor & Writer
[The Turkish translation of this interview is published and can be accessed on art.unlimited]
I think of my work, and maybe dance in general, as a vibration that reaches out to an audience in order to move them — physically as well as emotionally.
Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How?
I do not like to think of art in terms of 'force' or 'power', but I'm sure it can be a candlelight in the dark or even an explosion that blows up falsehood and make-believe.
When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works?
I always start from a specific question or problem I'm struggling with. Then I start to draw in my sketchbooks, dealing with this specific issue. My choreographies take shape in these sketchbooks — they are an imprint of my mind and soul. For this solo, I've also learned a lot from videos of speeches. I detected loads of different gestures from different speeches, small as well as big movements, and I've transformed them into a personal alphabet of different accents and qualities. For two months, I've done nothing but mixing and matching all these gestures, slowly growing towards a choreographic score.
When do you decide to give a title to a work you are working on if it already does not have one?
It depends on the show, of course. At first, I wanted to call this solo 'Ranting of the Body', but my long-time companion and composer, Maarten van Cauwenberghe, said it sounded way too 80s. 'It's going to get worse and worse and worse, my friend' is a line from a speech by the ultraconservative American televangelist Jimmy Swaggart which is heard throughout the piece. Maarten deconstructed the speech and I dance the trance of Swaggart's ecstatic speechifying — it's a tango, really, between dance and sound.
Is there any artist whom you can describe as "my master", or any person whom you think influenced your art most? And if there is such an artist or person, who?
I have a certain book I've been carrying around for many years now: The Art of Making Dances, by Doris Humphrey. It's a goldmine of wonderful ideas and knowledge.
What is your favourite of the speeches that made history?
Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’, for sure. The speech by Swaggart that we’ve used for our performance is awful, content-wise, but Swaggart’s voice is amazing. We’ve detached his words from the context they were written for. On their own, they have a universal quality.
How did the design process of the choreography developed in this work, which is based on a speech text?
It was a hell of a job to get it right as I'm not reacting to a fixed soundtrack. Maarten deconstructed Swaggart's speech into a sound design but is always performing it live. Every night I have to be as sharp as a knife to make sure I'm 'there' when he pushes the button, every night at a slightly different rhythm. It took us a very long time to achieve this complete symbiosis.
Is there anything in particular you want to tell people before they see this show? Is there anything particular you would like to tell the Istanbul audience?
No. To me, dance is much more about 'feeling' than about 'understanding' something. Come as you are, and dive in!
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