Calendar overview
A Question of Ma
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
MOVING THROUGH THE MIDDLE
MOVING THROUGH THE MIDDLE
Moving through the Middle is a documentation of and a reflection on the collaboration between choreographer and dancer Amos Ben-Tal and architect and visual artist Gosse de Kort, commissioned by WhyNot in 2018-2019, written by Katía Truijen. This project is part of WhyNot's ongoing research into the relationship between the body and architecture, leading towards the 7th edition of Festival WhyNot in January.
Throughout the research of Amos and Gosse, three main questions recurred and shaped their collaborative work: How can the body affect the space it is in? How can a space influence the body? And how can the two coexist in symbiosis? Following their investigations, Gosse designed and developed a modular kinetic structure: a spatial installation and responsive environment to explore their questions, together with dancer Genevieve Osborne.
We hereby share with you the completed version of the publication, including material from the performance-lecture A Question of Ma, the first result of the collaboration that premiered in Korzo in May 2019. Moving through the middle will continue to grow in the coming months, with reflections on research by Amos, Gosse and dancer Genevieve Osborne, and new references to experimental practices at the intersection of dance and architecture.