Starting from the premise that the organization of words in time and space can transform spoken language into dance, the workshop explores the ability of text to provoke movement. We will explore a series of performative tools through which the choreography of words evokes mental images. At the same time, the rhythm of the text and the way it interacts with the body contribute to the development of a performative discourse. Through progressive exercises, the workshop encourages constant associations and dissociations of meaning.
Juggling between the abstract and the concrete, we will train our movement spontaneity and performative clarity, as well as our reaction speed and ability to undertake deep listening and active reading. The goal is to develop a polysemantic body capable of performing a coherent discourse. This body—image is the basis of my method of working with dancers, the base of a type of performativity whereby what is absent from the stage gives rise to something very present in our imagination.
Catch BLOT, created by Simona Deaconescu and Vanessa Goodman, at Fluid Fest.
Featured Artists
Simona Deaconescu · Choreographer
Simona Deaconescu is a Romanian choreographer and filmmaker working across genres and formats. She examines social constructs, at the border of fiction and objective reality, sometimes with irony and black humor. Her work explores future scenarios of the body, creating spaces in which nature, history, and technology meet, and the notion of choreography extends beyond the human body.
She holds a BA and a MA in Choreography at The National University of Theatre and Film Bucharest and a BA in Film Directing at Media University Romania. Simona received the CNDB - National Centre for Dance in Bucharest Award (2016), was an Aerowaves Twenty18 and Twenty22 Artist, and a Springboard Danse Montréal Emerging Choreographer in 2019. In the past years, she has been an artist in residence with the European Projects Moving Digits and Biofriction, an Associated Artist with CNDB, and a Forecast Mentee.
Her creations include performances, installations, film, and video artworks. They were presented on conventional stages, in galleries, museums, and alternative spaces, reaching audiences in Europe, Canada, and the USA. In 2014, she founded her own project-based company, Tangaj Collective. Since 2015 she has been the co-founder and artistic director of the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival.
In 2023, Simona will create and present work within several projects happening in connection with Timisoara European Capital of Culture, as well as in Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Austria, and Mexico. She is now in post-production with her third short film, funded by The National Film Centre in Romania.