____________________________________________________________

- FULL NAME: Benno Voorham

- PHONE NUMBER: +46-73-9809938

____________________________________________________________                                                                                         

- TITLE OF THE ACTIVITY: The musical context of form(lessness) 

- DETAILED CONTENT DESCRIPTION (150 words or more): 

Nothing is formless. So, what do we actually mean when we say that something is formless? It seems to me that we use the term “formless” when we actually mean that we do not like or understand the form something takes. When we say a dancer, an object, a movement is formless, we often mean that we perceive the dancer, object or movement as having less form. It becomes a way of validating, categorising, judging. We measure form in relation to an aesthetic ideal.

Much of my teaching is related to performing and/or a performative presence. In teaching improvisation I work a lot with scores that tell little about the form the performed movements/actions could (or should?) take. But I often see a shared aesthetic between those who improvise inside a given score. And these aesthetics are often related to people their cultural or educational background. 

As form deals with the appearance of matter or ideas, I am interested in the relationship between form and content or the contextualisation of form. A for me strong influence on form in dance is music. Most of us are strongly influenced by the music we hear when we dance/improvise. It gives us a contextualised sound environment.

My proposal is to explore the influence that different kinds of music have on our choice making when we dance within an improvisational score. We will do a series of improvisations with different pieces of music, including silence. An opportunity to explore the impact music has on our understanding of form and what strategies we might find to break down that influence. 

- SUMMARY OF CONTENT DESCRIPTION (max 60 words; for publishing)     

We will explore the influence that different kinds of music have on our choice making when we dance within an improvisational score. We will do a series of improvisations with different pieces of music, including silence. An opportunity to explore the impact music has on our understanding of form and what strategies we might find to break down that influence.                                                                                                                                                                        

- SHORT BIOGRAPHY (max 60 words for publishing (if co-taught all in all max 60 words)

Benno Voorham is an international performer, choreographer and teacher from Holland, living in Stockholm since 1995. Since his graduation in 1986 from the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam he has worked internationally as an independent dance-artist, directing his own work as well as collaborating with others in both set and improvised pieces. 

- AIMED AT WHO (AND HOW MANY PEOPLE MIN /MAX?)

Anyone interested, minimum around 10, maximum depends on size of space.

__________________________________________________________

-  TIME REQUEST:   2 1/2 hours                                                                                                                                                                

- TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS (audio, beamer etc):          good sound system                                                                                                                                                                         

- SPACE NECESSITY (studio size etc): minimum 100 m2

__________________________________________________________