THINKING IN THE ETHER

Thinking in the Ether is an online project that brings together dance artists from The Centre for the Less Good Idea (South Africa), nATANDA Dance Theatre (Sri Lanka) and DOX (The Netherlands).

Initiated and supported by The Embassy of The Netherlands in South Africa and in Sri Lanka, the project uses the inter-related colonial histories of the three countries as the thematic provocation to explore the mediated body, physicality, movement and connection in and across the ether.

Sessions took place online, via zoom and whatsapp, and various themes and points of interest emerged over the course of these sessions. Notably, a particular brevity and an economy of language – linguistic and performance-based, was necessitated by these digital modes of engagement during the first days of working through the ether. This translated somewhat into the physical activities taking place in the spaces, as did the technology itself – with performers playing with the various ways of seeing through webcams, projections, shadows and more.

Following a shared lecture about the history of the East India Company and its impact on systems of trade and migration, participants began playing more with the idea of the camera as a choreographic tool, such as a roaming body, or the rocking of a boat. Finally, the discovery of all of these elements together – the physical performers in the room, the ‘digital performers’ in the windows of zoom, and the presence of the projected images in each space – made for an organically performative moment.

In February 2023, the project partners completed an Ideation Workshop which entailed a collaborative online process of thinking through doing; the collective generation of ideas; and the development of a language and grammar for the work.

Present throughout the workshop was a consideration of the challenges and opportunities that emerge from working collaboratively in the online space.

On 14 February 2023 Thinking in the Ether culminated in The Open Moment, a public showing of the project’s explorations, and an opportunity for audiences to gain some insight into these investigations and explorations.

In the Open Moment, collaborators demonstrated fragments of the material that emerged through the process. They will also discuss their approach to the project and the discoveries made through the ideation process.

— David Mann

PHOTOGRAPHER | Zivanai Matangi

CREDITS:

MOMENTEUR FOR THE SO ACADEMY | Athena Mazarakis
ANIMATEUR FOR THE CENTRE | Phala Ookeditse Phala
PERFORMERS AT THE CENTRE | Kamogelo Molobye, Phuti Chokwe & Phumlani Mndebele
COLLABORATORS | nATANDA Dance Theatre (Sri Lanka) & DOX (The Netherlands)