A Tiger’s Leap into Past (2007-2009)

Artistic research on evacuated genealogies of dance, by Ana Vujanović and Saša Asentić

It is an artistic research dedicated to the articulation of the past of the local dance scene in historical terms.
Co-authors: Ana Vujanović & Saša Asentić
Producer: Per.Art, Novi Sad.
Video-materials: Dragana B. Stevanović, Marta Popivoda, Saša Asentić

”Tigrovski skok kao način istorizacije je bazična metodologija istraživanja domaće plesne scene kroz 20.vek, predstavljenog ovom video instalacijom.
Osnovna referenca nam je Benjaminov poslednji tekst Istorijsko-filozofske teze, prema kojem: “Istorijski artikulisati prošlost ne znači spoznati je ‘kakva je, u stvari, bila’. To znači ovladati sećanjem onako kako blesne u trenutku opasnosti”. Ključna reč Benjaminove zamisli istorije je nem. Eingedenken, što je ovde prevedeno sa ‘sećanje’. Žižek, međutim, u Sublimnom objektu ideologije napominje da “ne možemo ovo Eingedenken prevesti jednostavno sa ‘sećanje’ ili ‘reminiscencija’; i doslovniji prevod kao ‘preneti sebe u mislima/u nešto’ takođe je neprimeren”, jer kod Benjamina Eingedenken je interesno prisvajanje prošlosti. Tako se plesna prošlost koju nudimo pretežno i sastoji od specifičnih sećanja intervjuisanih, koji sad-i-ovde ispisuju tamo-i-onda, ne teleološki već u jednoj slaboj genealogiji, koja je evakuisana iz zvanične istorije savremene plesne scene u evropskim i globalnim okvirima.

Continue reading

Not Quite-Not Right Eastern Western Dance Scene

PDF available here.

Ana Vujanović (2007-2011)

In order to write about the current situation of contemporary dance in Serbia, I could begin with the conceptualization and contextualization of its synchronic relations with the neighboring scenes, then also with other European or Western ones. As contemporary dance is a new phenomenon in Serbia, there are two problematic theses that I would like to put forward as starting points. Firstly, as there is no local contemporary dance history, there is no need to follow the diachronic traces of the present situation; and secondly, what is currently considered and practiced as contemporary dance in Serbia is contemporary Western dance. Hence, my task here is to clarify the influences, uses, transfers, translations, and appropriations of Western dance paradigms to this context that is not-quite-Western but not-right-Eastern either. Thus my starting point is plain and clear, though harsh. And yet, is it sufficient? I wouldn’t think so. But then, what can we do?

I will now try to examine my theses, in the hope that some new problems might eventually emerge. I will adopt a theoretical-political approach, maintaining that making problems forces us to rethink our common beliefs and habits. Consequently, this essay does not entertain a positivist-scientific approach.[1]

Continue reading