Perceiving Counterforce

Roos van Berkel (ECD) and Esther Snelder (Mime)

This interdisciplinary research project between mime and dance will investigate the perception and ambiguity of counterforce through word, image and movement. During the following conversation about the concept 'counterforce', Esther and Roos realized that they, and perhaps also other colleagues from mime and dance, interpret and use the term differently. That made them curious. What do they themselves actually mean by it? And how is it seen, interpreted and used by others?Through studio-based research and interviews, the duo will investigate the performative concept of "counterforce" and develop curriculum by means of an essay/booklet and workshop.

Counterforce: the awareness of opposite forces while you are seemingly still and while you move / many different variations of tension and release / the performer's awareness of the surrounding space with the ability to influence the spectator's awareness of space / to create space for not-knowing while working with repetition / to acknowledge habitual patterns and learning to detach from them / to consider several options while you seem engaged with one task / and so on...

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