William Forsythe: Improvisation Technologies
A Tool for the Analytical Dance Eye
is now published and available as CD-ROM. It can be ordered via your
bookshop,
at <www.hatjecantz.de> / <sales@hatje.de> or <www.amazon.de.
Review copies on request. Information: <sommer@zkm.de>
Ed. ZKM Karlsruhe and Deutsches Tanzarchiv, Cologne/SK Stiftung Kultur
CD-ROM (Mac/PC), English
Booklet (56 pages), English/German, with a text by Roslyn Sulcas,
interview with William Forsythe and photographs by Dominik Mentzos
ISBN 3-7757-0850-2
DM 58,-- / c. US$ 40,--
William Forsythe has brought about a shift of paradigms in contemporary
dance. The vocabulary of his choreographies re-defines body, space, time
and movement. The ZKM/Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe co-operated
with William Forsythe in 1994 to produce a ‘digital dance school’ in the
form of an interactive computer installation entitled ‘Improvisation
Technologies’ – intended for the professional use of the dancers of
Frankfurt Ballet. This innovative co-production for the first time
offers the opportunity to gain a more profound access to the work of a
major contemporary choreographer. Revealing to the viewer the
technologies of improvisation that William Forsythe and his dancers
developed at the Frankfurt Ballet in the course of one-and-a-half
decades, the project makes it possible to analyse in detail the smallest
units of movement. The project attracted extraordinary interest
worldwide, and was shown at numerous festivals, symposia and
exhibitions.
A revised version of ‘Improvisation Technologies’ is now being published
on CD-ROM as a special issue of the ZKM digital arts edition with the
support of the German Dance Archive, Cologne. Divided into 60 video
chapters, the CD-ROM is made up of lecture demonstrations in which
William Forsythe shows the essential principles of his improvisation
techniques. Dance sequences, performed specially by Frankfurt Ballet
members Christine Buerkle, Noah D. Gelber, Thomas McManus and Crystal
Pite, can be called up as further illustrations. Also included is a
document of improvisation practice: Forsythe’s performance of Solo,
filmed in 1995 by Thomas Lovell Balogh.
The CD-ROM is in English only, and is accompanied by a richly
illustrated English/German booklet that features an interview with
William Forsythe and an essay by dance critic Roslyn Sulcas.
New York-born William Forsythe is one of the leading choreographers of
our time. His career as a dancer began at the Joffrey Ballet, New York,
and from 1973 to 1980 he was choreographer of the Stuttgart Ballet. He
became artistic director of the Frankfurt Ballet in 1984, and brought to
the forefront of contemporary dance a company whose regular tours have
now taken it to all the major cities of the world.
‘Improvisation Technologies’ is shown at ZKM Karlsruhe from 5 June to
11 July 1999 as part of the exhibition series ‘produced@zkm’.
Special event: Artist's talk with William Forsythe (presented by Bettina Milz)
ZKM-Media Theatre, Sunday, 4 July, 7:00pm
Information
Tel.: ++49-721-8100-1200
Fax: ++49-721-8100-1139
e-mail: info@zkm.de
The CD-ROM will be shown at the German Dance Archive Cologne during
dance screen 99 (International Festival for Dance in the Media) from 9
to 13 June 1999.
Information:
Tel.: ++49-221-226-5757
Fax: ++49-221-226-5758
e-mail: tanzarchiv@aol.com