A Question of Ma

Amos Ben-Tal / Gosse de Kort / WhyNot
A performance-lecture about dance and architecture
Premiere 11 May 2019, Korzo The Hague

The Japanese word Ma can be roughly translated as "gap", "interval", "pause" or "the space between two structural parts”.

How can the body affect the space it is in? How can a space influence the body? How can the two coexist in symbiosis? 

To investigate these key questions, dance and performance platform WhyNot brings together two acclaimed artists from two different disciplines: choreographer Amos Ben-Tal (OFFprojects) and inter-disciplinary artist Gosse de Kort. 

Together with dancer and long-time OFFprojects collaborator Genevieve Osborne, the two makers share with the public the intricate choreographic material and a mesmerizing kinetic installation that emerged from their interactions over the past few months. Interspersed playfully throughout this unique event are personal insights from the artists about their practices and methods but also the discrete languages and intuitions that fed their collaboration. 

Parallel to the research of Amos & Gosse, critical writer and researcher at Het Nieuwe Instituut Katia Truijen has made an elaborate publication about the links between art, dance and architecture: Moving through the middle

Ma is not something that is created by compositional elements; it takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these elements.

Credits:

Idea and production: WhyNot

Choreography and installation: Gosse de Kort and Amos Ben-Tal

Dance: Genevieve Osborne

Researcher: Katía Truijen

Photos: Sara Anke Morris

Made possible by: Korzo, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK), Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industry, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Stichting Stokroos