Motion Bank Workshop No. 3

Motion Bank Workshop NO.3

MEDIATING RELATIONS

14-17 February 2012 at The Frankfurt LAB. This third workshop in the series offered an opportunity to engage into the development of scores through encounters in the space between sound and motion composition. Choreographers, composers, dancers, musicians, sound and installation artists curious about how scores mediate relations with one's own creative work and with performers, audiences and others were encouraged to apply.
Workshop: Things of Significance, Of Symbols & Scores. Score Making. Photo: Jessica Schäfer

Two workshops were offered, each conducted by a choreographer and a composer to examine the parallelisms and differences in score making in both disciplines. The first workshop with the title “Things of Significance, Of Symbols & Scores” drew on z’ev’s (composer) creative research into phenomenology and rhythm, and Thomas Lehmen’s (choreographer) exploration of social systems in his art practice.
z’ev and Thomas Lehmen. Photo: Jessica Schäfer

The workshop participants explored this link between sound and motion, first developing individual scores and than performing them with the group. One of the challenges was to read the score of another person and from there to develop and perform an interpretation of that score. See the two video impressions below to hear reflections and see elements of the process.

(Visit the site for Thomas Lehmen's multi-year world wide choreographic project A Piece for You.) 
Workshop: Things of Significance, Of Symbols & Scores. Score Performing.
Photo: Jessica Schäfer

The second workshop was conducted by choreographer Isabelle Schad and the Frankfurt based composer Robin Hoffmann under the "Score Meditations: On the body becoming music". It was the aim of Motion Bank to offer opportunities to the invited workshop artists to try out new ideas for teaching or leading workshops. In this case, it was the first time Schad, whose work is influenced by somatic practices like Body-Mind Centering and Embryology, had met and worked together with the body percussionist Robin Hoffmann.
Isabelle Schad and Robin Hoffmann. Photo: Jessica Schäfer

Together with the participants, they explored the deep awareness of the body in movement connecting to musical ideas, structures and writings. A score was executed and performed – with the emphasis on each individual body-mind state. See the video impression below for reflections and to see some elements of the process.
Workshop: Score Meditations On the body becoming music. 
Photo: Jessica Schäfer

Reinhold Friedl, German composer and founder and director of the Zeitkratzer Ensemble was the Salon guest for workshop no. 3. Reinhold gave a lecture offering insights into score making as a contemporary music composer and opening up a discussion about differences between classic music scores and scores for live performance.
Motion Bank Salon with Reinhold Friedl. Photo: Jessica Schäfer

The diagram picture to the right (open in larger PDF format) emerged from initial discussions between Project Leader Scott deLahunta and Reinhold Frield about scores -- the red boxes and lines articulate the more traditional idea about what relationships a composer might expect with the creation of a score, the black lines and questions reveal the kinds of research questions asked by Motion Bank about scores.
Score-thinking diagram

Video Impression: 'Things of Significance, Of Symbols & Scores' workshop with z’ev’s and Thomas Lehmen.
Video: Anna Berger

Video Impression: 'Things of Significance, Of Symbols & Scores' workshop with z’ev’s and Thomas Lehmen.
Video: Anna Berger

Video Impression: 5-minute video documentation of the workshop of Isabelle Schad and Robin Hoffmann.
Video: Anna Berger

Workshop Documentation Pages:

http://motionbank.org/en/content/workshops

http://motionbank.org/en/event/project-giessen-2011

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-workshop-no1

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-workshop-no-2

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-workshop-no-3

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-workshop-no-4

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-workshop-no-5

http://motionbank.org/en/event/motion-bank-laboratory

http://motionbank.org/en/event/choreographic-coding-lab-motion-bank-report