Australian contemporary dance choreographer Prof.Leigh Warren conducted a workshop on William Forsythe’s Improvisation Technologies at TNUA during the winter break.
The one-week intensive workshop was meant to prepare students from the Department of Dance for the upcoming spring-summer stage production.The renowned choreographer was at TNUA as a visiting professor last year, during which he also presented his “Esprit de Corps” in an early summer performance.
The workshop he con ducted on his return to TNUA focused on Forsythe’s improvisation techniques. Apart from the bodily training, the workshop also emphasized the theory behind the training.
A total of 36 students auditioned for roles in the spring-summer production scheduled for May, but only 20 of them were selected. Although he could not fit all 36 students in the upcoming performance, he still welcomed any one of them to come join the workshop.
Prof. Warren remarked that students could learn Forsythe’s improvisation techniques by following videotape recordings, but the thoughts behind each move could not be understood by just watching the videotapes.
The dance Prof. Warren is going to stage for the School of Dance in May will be an embodiment of Forsythe’s improvisation techniques – a dance created using Forsythe’s “universal writing” procedure.
Each of the dancers will carry with them signs representing the Roman alphabet, and their movements on stage will create scores of possible combinations.