Choreographing an Archive of Relations: Singularities and the Common Shared in Dance explores choreographic methods and processes for the use of archives in dance. How can choreography exist as a singularity, as an object that makes visible historical dance archives, modalities of observation, and archives of tasks and situations? What if choreography is not about inventing new material, but about a process of composing, working with, and making visible existing materials and relations?

The research has produced new choreographic works understood as singularities through the use of existing material. I am drawn to the agency that material can have in shaping the work. An artistic creative process is always a site of references and influences, and I see the act of naming these references as something that neither diminishes nor undermines the autonomy or integrity of the artwork. Instead, it can contribute to establishing a broader field of knowledge within dance and choreography, and challenge the historically fetishized idea of the original, genius masterpiece, where its influences cannot be articulated, discussed, or traced.

The research has developed along two axes. The first axis I identify is the intersubjectivity inherent in choreographic processes. More precisely, I investigate how to create a productive learning situation in my work where what we produce emerges between me, as choreographer, and the performer/dancer/collaborator, and how the place, context, and situation function as co-creative materials in the artistic work. The second axis in my research, intertextuality, reflects my interest in existing materials, found dance historical archives, found forms of composition and modalities of observation, and in understanding and approaching these as something commonly shared within dance.

Song of Distance (working title) is a new performance that departs from the Juruá River in the Brazilian Amazon, considered the most sinuous river in the world. Flowing through flat terrain with a heavy load of debris and residues, the Juruá constantly twists and turns, generating an excess of meanders. The performance adopts this sinuosity as both image and method, following its curves to think about migration, diasporic memory, and river knowledges as forms of survival and resistance.

During the Praxis residency I propose a studio showing/presentation followed by an informal conversation, where we unpack the main methodologies and references for the project. We will center on topics such as: how swaying practices transform through migration, how undulation can be a tool to navigate environments, and how dance can host complex, joyful and conflictual forms of belonging. I am particularly interested in using this encounter as a space for feedback and dialogue that can inform the further development of the work: responses to the choreographic material, to the research framework, and to how the work resonates with different lived experiences of migration. I hope this shared reflection can help refine the questions, methods, and public formats of the project, and open up potential future collaborations with other artists and the community connected to PRAXIS Oslo.

Ann-Christin Kongsness (she/her) is educated in dance, choreography, aesthetic theory, and literary studies, and is currently pursuing an MA in Arts Education at NTNU. She works as a dancer, choreographer, writer, educator, and drag king based in Oslo. Her work takes the form of performances, seminars, workshops, lectures, talk series, texts/publications, and drag shows. She is the editor of the anthology KOREOGRAFI (published in three editions), and in recent years her artistic work has had an explicitly queer focus, as Robin in the drag king group Gutta and through the performance series Butch Tribute.

In her Praxis Lab, Kongsness will focus on choreography as a practice centered on making choices, and will offer different approaches to choreography motivated by various aesthetic theories. This session is drawn from her master’s project in arts education, Conceptual Thinking in Teaching for Contemporary Choreography.

*PRAXIS Lab is an improvisational session where artist can share any type of exploration, scores, questions or experiments together with a group; an open space to test, sense, discuss or reflect together.

The theme of this solo project is liberation, which for me means freeing oneself from personal expectations, external demands, limiting norms, and oppressive rules. To free oneself involves challenging established oppressive structures, while simultaneously strengthening the authenticity of the individual and the community, and actively working towards new utopias. I aim to create this project to inspire the audience to begin or continue conscious processes of liberation. The project is also a healing process, both for myself and for those who participate in or are affected by the work.

Haranni Umakanthan (they/them) is a dance artist and choreographer. They are based in Oslo and have roots in Tamil Eelam. Their practice focuses on healing through movement, text, and voice. Haranni draws inspiration from, among other things, Bharatanatyam, improvisation, and contact improvisation. In their creative projects, they explore themes such as decolonization, intersectionality, gender, sexuality, and culture. They are also deeply interested in site-specific work and in being audience-aware in their artistic processes and works.

Choreographer and performer, Martijn Joling will in the end of his Praxis residency share some of his first findings on his current research; exploring the merge of freestyle rap and contemporary dance improvisation. In this spontaneous improvisation, incorporation both body and voice, you can expect the unexpected.