October 2015 Fontys Dance Division organized an Intensive Study Program (ISP) in Re-Designing Spaces. The week approached the topic of dance in public space with a group of international dance teachers, currently teaching at a dance academy.
The teachers had 3 intensive days of lectures and topics on different contemporary topics, which challenged them to re-think dance education, the dance career and skills of a dance artist. After these days they gained intellectual input to take into a work session to work out new ideas together. The core theme of the day was understanding skills of a dance artist and the possibilities and necessities to transfer these skills into other work areas or within society. Behind this idea there is a strong conviction that dance as an artistry is more valuable than providing isolated products and performances. Education and research in dance and developing skills by an embodied practice contains an integrative methodology for learning. What does that bring to the dance artists and how can this be of value for other practices in society?
The concept idea for this day was founded by Kai van Hasselt. The working method was founded on design thinking, a method to prototype your ideas into practice by brainstorming and developing in immersive collaboration. Facilitation was performed by Kai together with Dirk Dumon. Teachers that participated came from the Conservatory Antwerp, Duncan Centre Conservatory, Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds and Fontys Dance Department in Tilburg.
Based on this unusual, fresh and inspirational session we created a Mirror Salon Series to share all the gathered knowledge and experience with the professional dance field on the platform www.inclusivedance.eu. This series will not provide final answers. It is a nuanced registration of a process that is still continuing within the academies that participated and within a larger discourse on artistic careers in contemporary society.
The Magazine below is the last output from the Series. A magazine where the thoughts and interaction of that day was collected as a memory of inspiration and creative archive for process-development.
Magazine Design: Miguel Harvas Gomez
Magazine Teachers & Re-Defining dance education
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