BECOMING: The Bodies of Performance

By Regina Miranda, MS, CMA, RSMT

During the last few decades, contemporary dance and performance art
have been involved in a romance with self and the body, to the etent
of an almost obsessive displaying of the dancers! body and a constant
artistic"philosophical debate about its #presence$ and"or #absence$%
The new bodies of performance, in their endless connections and
transgressions between the outside and the inside, the male and the
female, the organic and the artificial, seem no longer stable, and their
boundaries can no longer be represented by the s&in% '() As claims
*rlan, the internationally recogni+ed ,rench performer and Art -istory
professor, .the s&in is deceptive/ 0 have an angel1s s&in but 0 am a
2ac&al%%%a crocodile1s s&in but 0 am a puppy, a blac& s&in but 0 am
white3 a woman1s s&in but 0 am a man3 0 never have the s&in of what 0
am% There is no eception to the rule because 0 am never what 0
have%.
# To have or not to have$ a body, and to have it #present$ has been a
longtime issue for dance% As Andre 4epec&y reminds, as much as that
seems suspect, historically, neither #presence$ nor #body$ have been
central to 5estern choreographic imagination% They will only emerge
as intrinsic to dance in (677, in Choregraphie ou LArt de Decrire la
Danse par Caractres, Figures et Signes Demonstratifs$, a tet written
by Raul Auger ,euillet, and even then, the schemati+ed body,
represented by a conglomerate of traces, is 8uite distant from its
anthropomorphic source%
4epec&y points that #this calligraphic body is accompanied by an
intriguing caption9 #De la presence du corps$% :either 2ust presence ;of
the body< nor 2ust ;the presence of< body ;/<% -e suggests that what
we witness in this title is #the visual=grammatical form;ul<ation of the
gap between body and presence in the history of modern 5estern
sub2ectivity and of modern 5estern dance$ ;lep >presence of the body,
pg%?< and adds that #dance as critical prais may draw its force
precisely by a creative, if not altogether subversive, occupation of this
gap%$
:owadays, in the choreographic scene, previous representations of the
body as a coherent, organi+ed, and integrated image, have been
sharing the stage with more open, diffused and diverse physical
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identities% 4et!s eemplify with Self Unfinished, a (777 solo wor& by
@avier 4eroy, where he aims to disrupt the notions of a secluded body
and to drop the traditional views of the sub2ect, with all the dualistic
categori+ations of male=female, human=animal, internal=eternal,
absent=present, that framed modern sub2ectivity% During this solo,
4eroy engages in a series of becomings ;becoming machine, becoming
woman, becoming animal, and ultimately becoming a non recogni+able
figure, still mutating at every passing moment<, proposing an entirely
different understanding of what a body is9 #not a stable, fleshy host for
a sub2ect, but a dynamic power, an ongoing eperiment%$
Arovo&ing and accounting for these changes, numerous definitions of
the body and its representations have been recently introduced%
Bac8ues 4acan, Cilles Deleu+e and ,eli Cuattari, Bose Cil, and 4uce
0rigaray, among others, have been proposing intriguing versions of the
body% But, although introducing different aspects, they all share a view
of the body as a series of #becomings$, a term introduced by Deleu+e,
Cuattari and Dli+abeth Cros+ to account for the body concept as a
creative open=ended process of actuali+ation and self=innovation, that
produces singularities and individuations%
Deleu+e and Cuattari understand becoming not as a simple
correspondence between different stages, but as a verb that indicates
the production of a plane of consistency or a composition of desire% 0n
other words, becoming produces a body without organs%
The Artaudian proposal of a ody without !rgans ;Bw*< as developed
by Deleu+e, meaning a des=organi+ation of the static body, is
especially interesting for 4aban researchers, since it bears a close
connection with 4aban!s view of the #4ive=body=in=movement$ ;4BM<, a
dynamic concept that restitutes to the body=in=movement its power of
reinventing itself%
The relations of these bodies with the environment are ecstatically
open, and deeply eplored in the performing arts! scene%
Contemporary choreographers, such as @avier 4eroy, Eera Mantero and
Berome Bel, and performance artists such as Marina Abramovic, Eito
Acconci, and 4aurie Anderson, to name a few, stage the body in new
and radical ways% Berome Bel, in The 4ast Aerformance$ = (77F% got to
the point of creating a dance with apparently = no bodies on stage%
Ac&nowledging the audience!s desire and imagination, and including
them as collaborators in the creation of meaning, the 8uestion staged
by these choreographers is the one that have been profoundly binding
philosophy and dance9 5hat is > a bodyG 5hat can a body doG
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The contemporary performing arts contet has been answering these
8uestions presenting the scenic body as a field of unceasing tensions
and of new and non=predictable connections% These radical
performances call for constant changes in our perception of the body
concept and demand reflection about the training of bodies for the
scene% As 0rmgard taught us, #intention precedes movement$% By
etension, concepts shape our practice% So, our concept of the body
will shape the way we address it in training and, of course, in
choreography and performance%
Rudolf 4aban!s initial view of man=space relationships is a good point
of departure for the eploration of eciting body relationships9 #The
human being connected to infinity$, as 4aban, suggested in his (7HI
boo& # Die 5elt des Tan+ers$, was an early representation of a vision of
the body as not encapsulated by s&in or isolated from space% 4aban
remar&s that, if the body can be represented by a crystalline form,
which, for a moment, defines a cut in space, immediately after it will
dissolve into the infinite space, as part of the potentiality of chaos% The
fleeting presence of the body is already signaled in this tet%
4aban!s crystalli+ed forms and geometric figures need to be thought of
not as simple metaphors or petrified ob2ects detached or in connection
with a space that is outside of the body% 4aban clearly states in #Eision
of Dynamic Space$ that #the space is the whole in which we are
integrated, moreover after we &now that Time and Dnergy can be
understood as factors derived from space$% Thus, borrowing from Buci=
Cluc&smann definition of Deleu+e!s crystals, 0 prefer to thin& of them
as representing Jan image=thought, which defines a territory and acts
as the matri of a geo=philosophy of the art$%
0t is remar&able, as 4aban!s student 4ea Daan reminds us, that 4aban
in the beginning of the HI
th
century already considered #chaos$ as one
of the main principles of his movement theories% She remar&s that
4aban!s view was that #to fall into chaos means to the indi"idual to
lose his face, to dare to liberate, to dare show what rests hidden below
the structured mas# of education and culture$ ;4ea Daan!s remar&s on
4aban!s views, annotated by Mari2&e Ean -eddeghen<%
:evertheless, we need to ac&nowledge that, as groundbrea&ing as his
theories were, 4aban was a man of his own time and circumstances,
thus informed by the beliefs, hopes, history and canons of his time%
Therefore, Modernism, with its search for truth and measure was
certainly of great influence in the development of his theories and in
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the representations of the body #in$ space% The three dimensional
structures and dynamic relationships emphasi+ed by 4aban were
embedded in the Duclidian Ceometry, thus representing a strong
principle of organi+ation and an attunement to the ideas of e8uilibrium
and measure%
*n the other hand, 4aban!s tets clearly pointed into more instable
body relationships, and included a few body"space representations,
such as the Mobius Strip, which are inscribed in Topology% 0n the article
# About the materiali+ation of the space or the differentiation of space
into materiality$ ;date not specified<, 4aban tal&s about a body, whose
%indi"idual space &included in the form of the body, in its articulations,
and in its structure' should be considered as the counterpart of the
non(indi"iduali)ed space, with which the indi"idual part communicates
and continuously e*changes$% And he adds9 %+n the same way that the
materiality of the body is of the same nature as the materiality of
space, the space of the body is identical as the e*terior space,$ This is
groundbrea&ing theory about the body, and needs to be ac&nowledged
beyond the boundaries of dance%
4aban!s #intuitions$, as he used to refer to his theoretical insights of
body=space connections3 the fluidity of the current views of the body in
performance3 and the understanding of 4aban!s theories as an open
system, which could be permeated, re=interpreted and renovated by
current thoughts, stimulated me to establish correspondences and
interweave 4aban!s theories with late HI
th
century philosophical
perspectives to the body, and to investigate topological representations
of body=space connections as a form of representing the body
#becoming$%
The incorporation of these elements creates a challenge and demands
constant redefinitions of the body and of space, but, agreeing with
Eera Maletic, 0 could observe that the amplitude of 4aban!s original
concepts, gives us a strong base both to develop his ideas as well as to
apply them under different theoretical models%
To include a 4acanian perspective is, for eample, to ac&nowledge a
rupture between any precise description and the ob2ects that originate
the description% Knder the domain of the Signifier, instead of
communicating a clear signified, language elicits multiple and
sometimes contradictory signifieds%
Therefore, when adopting a fusional 4aban"4acan approach to
movement analysis, for eample, artists=researchers would not be
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interested in precise descriptions, but in multiplying the possibilities of
interpretation and of theoretical associations, thus creating more
written and choreographic material, in a transformational process of
#dedoublement$, in the sense of Maurice Blanchot%
0t!s my impression that 4aban!s theories fit better into the 4acanian
Chain of Signifiers than into the traditional binary oppositions that,
reflecting one another, or gliding from one to the other, seem to
suggest a sense of e8uilibrium% As described by 4acan, these
oppositions diverge and escape each other while trying to reflect one
another, provo&ing disturb and change% The relationship between
seemingly opposites becomes then a transformational process of
reciprocal relations where one constantly modifies the other in a
continuum of re=definitions and searches%
A more mobile geometry, one that could represent the transformation
processes between one form and another was necessary, and Bac8ues
4acan, as well as Rudolf 4aban, found in the emergent mathematical
field of Topology an eciting way to eplore and represent the body!s
ever=changing processes%
Topology is one among several non=Duclidean types of geometry, which
coeist as different approaches to space representations% 0n this so
called #rubber geometry$, metrics or proportions are of no importance,
space becomes embodied and any structure which is eplored is at the
same being transformed through the eploration, suggesting much
more #instable$ relationships than the ones indicated by the Duclidean
Ceometry%
The Mobius Strip, a curious surface, named after August ,erdinand
MLbius, a nineteenth century Cerman mathematician and astronomer,
who was a pioneer in the field of topology, has a remar&able property
of being one=sidedness% Boining A to C and B to D ;without any twist<
would produce a simple belt=shaped loop with two sides and two edges
== impossible to travel from one side to the other without crossing an
edge% But, as a result of the half twist, the MLbius Strip has only one
side and one edge% This figure was etensively eplored by 4aban,
who include it as one of the fundamental universal forms, together
with the &not and the circle"spiral% 'H6(= Eision of a Dynamic Space),
because the concept imbedded in this figure is one that escapes
dualistic paradigms, suggesting that, after all, one side and another
can be a continuum and not necessarily spatial antagonists% And 0
8uote9
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# A movement in the form of a lemniscate strip con2ugates two points
of view illustrated by the surface and the edges, and compels us to a
vision of unity that reflects its own nature9 there is no separation
between interior and eterior, and only one surface eists with its
continuous edges%$ ' Dynamic Space > pg HMN )
*ur practice has been the inclusion of new geometrical perspectives
within the 4aban field and to appreciate how they enrich the body
discourse while attuning 4aban!s theories with recent thoughts about
the body in performance%
But the learning of ecoming, cannot be 2ust theoretical, it needs to
include the eperiential% As theater scholar Ahilip Oarrili observes, #the
accomplished practitioner is one who has achieved and is able to
manifest in practice a certain ;internal and eternal< relationship to the
specific acts9 the ob2ect of meditation for the practitioner of
meditation, the target for the martial practitioner, the #score$ for the
actor$, and 0 add = the dance for the dancer% So, they need > to
move%%% and they need to change%
Based on the assumption that training can be more than the
ac8uisition of information and the embodiment of a techni8ue,
ecoming could be defined as an artistic movement process of self=
;re<definitions, where the individual is stimulated to ;re<discover a
#self$, which is not understood as something #internal$ that becomes
#unveiled$, but as a series of ;re<created selves, which are creatively
reconstructed by the fabric of movement, as interplay of intensities on
a landscape of forces%
The embodiment of ecoming needs to address change and the
unstable interplay between stability and instability in the body%
0rmgard Bartenieff, founder of the 4aban"Bartenieff 0nstitute of
Movement Studies > 40MS :PC, with whom 0 had the honor to study
and wor&, constantly reminded us9 #Be ready to changeQ$ Being
developmentally based, the artenieff Fundamentals, 0rmgard
Bartenieff!s incisive approach to movement eperience and training,
are an eciting ground for ecoming eperimentations%
To approach the B, as eercises of becoming, as unstable
embodiments of change ;instead of regarding them as eercises of
body integration<, transforms them in a disturbing and even
uncomfortable field, but they also become an invaluable support for
performing artists, who need to be constantly challenging their own
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selves through the embodiment of different characters or with their
own stage persona%
0n addition to B,, strategies of repetitions, such as re=enactments and
re=constructions, have proved to be ecellent ground to eperience
ecoming
Repetition is one of the four pillars of the 4acanian approach% 0n his
perspective, repetition is not related with #ordinary or stereotyped
behavior$, but refers to something that can never be attained,
something that is always missing% 0t is lin&ed to a #lost ob2ect$ and the
always unsuccessful tentative to find it% ,or 4acan, #the unconscious is
repetition$%
Repetition is represented in etreme by the obsessive neurosis, which
supposedly represents the eact repetition of something% 0n the
eercise of Becoming we privilege repetition as a return, not of the
same, but a return of the different9 the return of something else% ,or
eample9 0f we have several consecutive hugs, as in Aina Bausch!s
CafR Muller, we will have space and time articulating them, thus
ma&ing them = several in a chronological order, and also ma&ing them
= several different events% At the same time, we read them through the
symbolic order, through the common name attributed to them = hug%
5hat ma&es us consider them identical it!s the signifier% Through this
mechanism different things are e8uated as #similar$ because the
signifier brings them together% :evertheless, through the #repetition of
the different$ the #same$ movement is also constantly changing its
meaning% #-he meaning$ becomes #meanings$, which emerge,
dissipate, and constantly re=emerge in different contets that &eep
changing the original meaning%
Comple processes such as the one we described, when event and
environment constantly modify each other in the body=space
continuum, can be topologically evidenced by a simple demonstration%
Repetitions of the different are used in abstract movement phrases and
also in re=enactments, a term used in #Becoming$ in the sense of
embodied reconstructions" recreations of past histories in the present,
as they stay registered in the body% As such, re=enactment is
transformed into an aesthetic eperience, eposing the body
awareness of one!s own history and the possibility of self=
transformation and re=writing of events through art%
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0n addition, strategies of de=construction" re=construction are used in
relation to events, stories or tets that may or not belong to the life
eperience of the performers% They represent processes of absorbing
and re=writing one!s own or someone else!s tet clearly modifying the
original event% De=construction"re=construction can be eplored, for
eample, by reducing a movement phrase into its elemental units, and
re=constructing a phrase according to completely different categories,
or by deconstructing a phrase in elements and inventing a new phrase,
which maintains the isolation of the elements, as in a mosaic%
The current dance scene has been privileging the mosaic structure
over the re=construction of coherent flowing phrases% The process
brings the intermission, the silence, the stillness and ultimately, the
moment in between, to the forefront% ,or these contemporary bodies
in motion, #it is the love of the moment that demands the moment in
it!s irreplaceable, indeed it!s irreplaceable, singularity%$ 'Mac&endric&,
Sarmen% Dmbodying Transgression$ in *f the Aresence of the body$, pg
(N6)% Thus, in the choreographic language, rendered fragmentary by
the power of the intensity of the moment, we observe that the return
can never be the recurrence of the identical9 in dance, repetition is
seldom the repetition of the same%
:umerous other strategies can be eplored to eperience ecoming
but, in the same way that eecuting an eercise designed by 0rmgard
Bartenieff doesn!t necessarily define an eperience in Bartenieff
,undamentals, what will identify the eperience of ecoming is the
principle of embodiment of change, and not the &ind of strategy that is
being used%
0t has been one of the premises of movement studies to define dance
as the art of the evanescent, the elusive, that which continuously
plunges into the past% That has been the challenge of writing in
motion9 to capture the body and its trace as they vanish in the past%
5hat ecoming, and it!s intrinsic association with Topology, proposes,
are strategies of eploring and writing in motion attending to a line of
action that points to the future and not to the past% This vision allows
the body to ma&e a slow turning that will shift its destiny9 instead of
bound to disappearance, the body becomes the productive source and
site of endless unfoldings% A change in direction that disturbs the
dance somewhat embarrassing predicament of self=erasing while
performing, and opens=up for the body, now engaged in a theoretical
open=ended move that unfolds as we write, multiple possibilities of re=
creating itself
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