On the necessity of a research project

Nowadays, it is widely recognised among contemporary artists and audiences that process is key to making work. First as students and then as independent artists we both demonstrated a stronger interest in the process rather than in the final product. Our choice in collaborating together therefore comes from this common approach.
Our initial goal was to work toward making a dance piece, still allowing ourselves enough time and space to develop our process, question and challenge our creativity. However, after many discussions attempting to define the nature of our focus, we realised the breadth of our field of interest and decided to embark on a research project, therefore postponing the production of a choreography.

We feel that a research project not only allows us to spend the necessary time to get a deep understanding of the elements we study, it gives room for risk-taking in our practice, therefore avoiding any familiar short cut to achieve our goals.
Our research also give a context to the questioning of our individual practices. We each approach it from a slightly different angle, each using it as a lab for our own observation. However, the awareness of the small differences in our personal interests remains in the background: personal interests never take over our joint enquiry.

Our choice of method also reflects our interest in the theory surrounding arts. As BA students at Laban, we both based our dissertation on critical theory and philosophy (Merleau-Ponty, Deleuze). Today, we wish to apply our academic knowledge to our creative practice as well as generate discourse about dance as a medium. Exploring taxonomy both practically and verbally encourages us to analyse our method, defining a language specific to it. Finally, it allows us to set our endeavour within a certain context, drawing from theories that previously treated similar subjects.

Furthermore, we view our project as a form of acknowledgement of the influence of artists and practitioners that we had the opportunity to meet and study from. We both took workshops with Simone Forti (Elodie in November 07 and Janine in March 08) whose approach to movement, text and improvisation are key elements of the method we are exploring. (Simone's influence in our work shall be further developed in a separate note). As artists we are also both inspired by american post-moderns (Judson Church, Anna Halprin and their followers) as well as other artists whose creative practices are intimately related to their ongoing research.
Our project can therefore also be considered a demonstration of our engagement in a certain scene. We hope to challenge dance as a form and contribute to the development of choreographic research, within our ability of course.

Finally, the necessity of this research project reflects who we are as general people: moving individuals with a tendency to explore, reflect and analyse the world that surrounds us in order to deal with it the best we can.