Dance Techniques 2010

158
Interview with Teachers from p.A.R.T.S.
Irmela Kästner
P.A.R.T.S. — Contemporary Positions
Teaching Technique in Contemporary Dance Training Brussels, 10 March 2010
The Flemish choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker
founded the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios
(P.A.R.T.S.), a training institute for contemporary
dance, in Brussels in 1995. Nine generations of students
have since passed through the school. Many of them have
made a name for themselves as dancers and / or choreographers
and are part of a new generation of artists who
are leaving their mark on contemporary dance around the
world. Young dancers from all parts of the globe apply
to the school. P.A.R.T.S. sees itself as a location for lively
artistic exchange and change.
As part of the Dance Techniques 2010 research project,
the author and journalist Irmela Kästner talked with the
teachers and colleagues whom the director of the school
believes have played, and are playing, a key role in shaping
the young history of the school. The teaching concepts,
and how P.A.R.T.S. approaches dance technique, was of
particular interest.
Participants
Steven de Belder
Coordination of Research Cycle, Theory
David Hernandez
Contemporary, Improvisation, Composition, Rhythm
Mia Lawrence
Coordination of Training Cycle, Yoga
Janet Panetta
Ballett
Chrysa Parkinson
Co-Coordination of Research Cycle, Contemporary
Theo Van Rompay
Deputy Director
Salva Sanchis
Coordination of Research Cycle, Contemporary,
Choreography
Moderator
Irmela Kästner
This discussion focuses on pedagogical concepts in
contemporary dance training. How is the
training at P.A.R.T.S. designed? What is your
approach to teaching?
Mia Lawrence (ML) I focus on helping students
express themselves honestly, whichever art form they
choose, so that they create a link to their individual
creativity—in this case through the body.
Salva Sanchis (SS) My involvement with dance is
based mainly on my interest in technique. Teaching
has become an essential part of my own research as a
dancer and choreographer.
Chrysa Parkinson (CP) I have a background in
ballet and modern dance that I later complemented with
various body techniques. I am neither a choreographer
nor a teacher—I see myself as a performer. My interest
in technique is based on precision: precision relating
to the how when working with the material, in terms
of both the choreography and the performance. My
teaching ultimately aims to identify a person’s own artistic
approach, and what the physical, stylistic, and aesthetic
implications are. The question, ‘How far can I go
as a performer?’ is always in the background.
Janet Panetta (JP) A technique enables you to imagine
what you can do and what you would like to do.
It tells you about yourself. If it can’t do that, then it
is not a technique. Unlike creativity, technique is, for me,
something that you can teach. I have been teaching
professionally since 1974 and have witnessed so many
changes in the dance world that I find it extremely
interesting that I still belong to it. Despite my ballet, and
later modern and postmodern background, it has never
appealed to me to teach ballet to classical dancers.
David Hernandez (DH) Teaching has always been
my way of learning. I started as a musician—theater and
dance came later. All these art forms were somehow
part of a whole. Technique, for me, quite simply means
how you do things; a technique should open up many
paths and not just enable you do to one thing in a very particular
way. A technique lesson should be interesting
and illusive—and also demand the impossible. I always
see things in a historical context. Nowadays, it is no
longer about teaching people a particular aesthetic or
ability. We are the next generation. The ball has been
passed along to us—where do we run with it?