Bubble, Splash and Drop - Water as an Object of Exploration

The characteristics of water is the starting point of a performative research practice. We immerse ourselves in the flowing quality of our body movements and explore the sonic properties of water as a material for creative processes with sound and movement.

The characteristics of water, its texture, its movements and its sounds are the starting point of this workshop of performative research
practice. Water separates and connects on the one hand horizontally and on the other hand vertically, its presence defines living spaces, it
is permeable and malleable, at the same time powerful in its strength, devastating in its absence.

The approach to this multifaceted element takes place through explorative research on water as an element of movement: we immerse
ourselves in the quality of the flow, effervescence and languid drift of our bodily movements in order to develop choreographic elements
from them; we investigate the sonic characteristics of water in the form of waves and refractions and transfer our findings into (sound)
creative processes. As a vade mecum, Italo Calvino's "Six Memos for the Next Millennium" (1988) will accompany us, which seem
significant to him: lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, multiplicity and consistency. His aesthetic values developed for literature can
be transferred to design aspects in performative work. They are characterised by a preoccupation with their respective opposites: for
example, the balanced handling of weight is what makes floating possible in the first place; knowledge of the richness of different
meanings makes exactness possible.

Schedule:

Day I, 10-16: Plunging and discovering
Day II, 10-16: Discovering and transferring
Day III, 10-16: Transferring and shaping
Day VI, 10-17: Refining, Presenting and Reflecting

Equipment requirements:

Movement clothing and swimsuit

Prof. Dorothea Weise

Dorothea Weise has been Professor of Eurhythmics / Music and Movement at UdK since 2009. In her work, her main interest is the
differentiation of perception and kinaesthetic listening leading to nuanced forms of intertwining music and movement. She publishes in
numerous specialist publications and is co-editor of the 2019 volume "Rhythmik – Musik und Bewegung. Transdisziplinäre Perspektiven".
Since 2023 the digital platforms Atlas of Eurhythmics and Sliding Interactions present the results of a three-year cooperation project on the
pedagogy and artistic practice of eurhythmics at the universities Stockholm, Vienna, Katowice and Berlin.

https://www.udk-berlin.de/person/dorothea-weise/

 

Olaf Pyras

Olaf Pyras works as a percussionist, composer and music educator. He is interested in contemporary music and sound art, often in connection with drama and dance. His project SoundCycling was invited to documenta fifteen. He teaches at the Institute of Music at the University of Kassel and at the University of the Arts in Berlin in the Faculty of Music and Art.

https://www.udk-berlin.de/person/olaf-pyras/