Cross currents....sharp-sharp aktivities

Im currently in Berlin...as a result of this project...so i´ve decided to break down what it is and how it began.

The cross current project began shortly after I got my feet rooted at home after leaving Japan. I bumped into Sello(Pesa) and decided i should make contact as we had worked together before. I worked with Sello in the `George era`...which I´ll get into more detail as my life story unfolds and when certain wounds have started healing in ways I can decipher them.

Anyway, i went to the Drill hall-Keleketla Library- to check out my homies that I work with ko Imbawula Trust...so it is then I bumped into Sello giving class and he said I should drop in and take class. Alas, this class was actually a project that had started two days before. So...true to my nature of loving movement i hooked it up the next day. So this is what followed:

1st day:
Carlos took warm-up. We had to hold our partner by the hands, they bend forward and we pull them towards us8the partner is now at a 90° angle. You are basically pushing them off their axis to transfer their weight forward. You then let go of your partner and they then start extending their hands and weight forward into a dog stretch. The other partner now places themselves behind the partner bending down to hold them at the hips. The partner bending forward then reverses the forward bend, while the partner thats behind pulls their hips back so that the partner feels like they are flying up.

sello then took the second part of the class focusing on extensions and curving.The exercise was to extend the limbs, then once you have established the that, you then start curving yuor extensions. This exercise was done with a partner, where the one partner manipulates one partner´s limbs(throws them), then the partner thats manipulated starts adding curves to the extensions. The moving partner is then left to move on their own and explore the posibilities.

The other days had different exercises and had build ups to the exercises being done. This phase of the project took place over the )th to the 15th of november 2008 at the Drill Hall, Johannesburg(by Joubert Park, next to Noord taxi rank).

Cross Currents/sharp-sharp aktivities is a three phase project. It started on in November 2008 and will finish on the 22nd of June 2009. The first phase of the project was held in Johazadousburg(Johannesburg,South Africa), the second phase in Newtown, Diepkloof and Saxonwold(South Africa) and the last phase in Berlin(Germany).

I am currently in Berlin finishing off the last phase in the Intrasit festival. i would say that this project was primarily a dance project but has changed its form and shape to a more open type of approach. We havea way of working within the project which is a collective, open and participatory type of approach. Also, we rehearse using different exercises(with specific exercises being our repertoire) during the week, then at the end of the week, we usually have a presentation...we call them: performance-non-performance.

The group as a whole experiments and plays around with how we can perform and not perform something? What is performance? Who are the audience? what justifies and audience? At which point is something natural...and at which point does it turn into an performance? and at which point can the audience become the performers?

All these questions are continually being interrogated by the artist as they perform and not perform. It is an interesting way of working, I find, cause it makes one understand the audience-performer relationship as well as timing(when performing).
Another re-occuring thing are social activities like parties....when they happen, how they happen, what makes a good party....and FOOD....glorious food...the collection, preparation, and consuming of the food in different environments or places. In South Africa where you find yuorself eating with hashi(chopsticks) one moment, to fork and knives the next and eating with your hands....eating at a chisa nyama is different to eating at home and resturants. So we do a lot of thinking behind ´normal´ every to day activities and place them in a different context and play around to see what processes take place from that.

These last days have been hard cause Berlin never really sleeps, so I´m not used to the 5 hours of sunshine. I am hoping to go to dance classes theis week to check out dance classes in Berlin....u know the usual around the world dance crit...but I´ll be out at Tanzfabrik kicking it. I´ll be giving a class to class analysis.

I´ll be preparing for the performance on June 16 at the Intrasit festival....cooking...tomorrow night, we´ll see how that goes...
Hoping to download some pictures one of these good days of Berlin.
If anyone´s interested in catching the last week of the festival...its and Haus der kultuur der weld in Berlin...and runs everyday...there´s a woman blowing bubbles, people sleeping, dancers on water....and talks on dance and installations at the festival....will break down more on the talks...maybe hook up a podcast...will see....all in good time...plus there´s sumthing bubbling under in the jozi dance seen....watch this space....
it on now!

oh,ja....for more info ont he festival...check out this link....or address...or google it
www.tanzfabrik.berlin.de