How to Do Things with Words

We wish to explore a very simple question: how to do things with words. In particular we desire to explore the possible physical uses for printed text in the context of dance performance. How does one dance with text? What new meanings arise when dancers manipulate objects printed with words and simple phrases? The combination of dance and text may sound simple, but it runs counter to a dominant preconception of dance as an essentially nonverbal dance form. Our newest production expands the ability of the dance to carry meanings — in the truest sense of the word.

Our production is conceived as a series of “choreo-liguistic” experiment in an unusual working method blending liv rehearsals with video dance creation. The initial results might be with concrete poetry, visual wordplay and Dadaistic synaesthetic paradoxes (see Magritte’s famous caption “ceci n’est pas une pipe”). But when the full-bodied creativity of  dancers is engaged, we believe that a much more extensive field of possibilities will open up. We anticipate powerful alchemical reactions: sparks of expressiveness, clouds of interpretive complexity, clouds of interpretive complexity, the transformation of basic elements into theatrical gold, the appearance of a portal to the unknown.

For the first iteration or this project, we are planning a series of video studies that will be presented on various online platforms in January 2022. These etudes form the basis for a second production stage: a full-length dance production on the stage of the Dampfzentrale Bern in February 2022. For the third stage, a street theater version is planned for the summer of 2022.

“How to Do Things with Words” is the first part of the “Faking It” trilogy, which has been supported by a multi-year production grant from the City of Bern for the years 2022-2024.