At le Pacifique | CDC – Choreographic Development Centre (Grenoble, France)
December 7th, 2012
(last day of 5 of daily professional training of 2 hours with Intermediate and Advanced students)
Video created as part of a project called IDOCDE (International Documentation of Contemporary Dance Education - http://idocde.net/).

Recording : Philippe Quoturel, Jessica Lapouille
Editing : Laura Faguer
Production : Le Pacifique | CDC
Teacher : Clint Lutes
Participants : Maud Bonfils, Michaël Brand, Sylvain Cassou, Angélique Favre, Monica Gillette, Fabienne Gounon, Nicolas Hubert, Elodie Morard, Bernardita Moya, Régis Soucheyre, Thalia Ziliotis

Le Pacifique | CDC www.pacifique-cdc.com
Clint Lutes www.deathbyglitter.wordpress.com

Class Description

In this class, developing presence in one’s performative focus and clarity in energy changes is accessed and influenced by various physical movement ideas. The class begins with body and floor work and improvisation focusing on energy activation, developing from floor to standing, on hands and feet, upright and upside-down. Next the class develops through several more technical exercises, increasing awareness of energetic focus and specificity.  I also encourage an efficient use of weight and energy while maintaining simplicity and plenty of humour in our practice.

Translation and slight Embellishments (My apologies for my often horrific abuse of the French language in the video - cheers, Clint).

 Question (Angélique Favre): I noticed that you often choose to not show the movements or explain the reasons you make the decisions you do and rather allow the students to find their own direction and solutions.  Over the course of the week you give directions and even specific corrections and details, but you really allow each person to discover their own path. Can you explain a little bit why you take this approach? 

Answer: Throughout my career I’ve always been lucky to have the opportunity to create and follow my own path. I never worked with a fixed company, rather with many different choreographers and created my own work.  At 24 years old I created a festival in Berlin called LUCKY TRIMMER that was pretty different than all the other festivals that existed at that time in Berlin.  I always had the possibility to create and search for the things I found interesting and important, including in movement.  I was able to explore and train in many different techniques and styles and I think it’s important to leave space for everyone to find their own path and to understand the movement and to find the moments that don’t make sense, rather than me as a teacher saying this is how and what to do.  Each body and mind is different and so I try to leave some space for those differences.

Question (Fabienne Gounon): Sometimes you incorporate some elements of GYROTONIC® into the warm up.  Could you share how it has influenced you and what specific elements you use in your class?

Answer: I was certified to teach GYROTONIC® in 2001 and taught and practiced it for 6-7 years.  With GYROTONIC® I came to better understand connections in the body- spiral and circular movements and where they are initiated.  In the class I am still very much influenced by this method, but can’t say there is any specific exercise that stems directly from the practices of GYROTONIC® or GYROKINESIS®.

Question: And has it specifically influenced the origins of movement for you?

Answer: Yes, the movements of GYROTONIC® comes from the Seed Center, the Sex, the Center.  Everything begins here and whenever doing a movement it’s interesting to try to connect everything to this center.

Question (Elodie Morard): In your class how is the energy of the body and the state of the body important?  How do you construct the development of these elements throughout the class?

Answer: Generally I prepare a lot of small exercises and within these exercises there exists a specific energy.  I try to identify these energies and to transmit what I’ve discovered while doing these exercises.  I guess I don’t have an overall energetic arc or map besides one that builds from a slow morning place to a prepared and aware working place.  It’s more about how to arrive from the floor to standing, warming up and being ready.

Question: You often propose things that are physically intense, is it important for you to arrive at a highly physical state by the end of class?

Answer: Yes, but it’s less physical than it used to be!  At a certain point it was just too difficult for me (as well as for the students), showing the exercises again and again and again.  But even more important for me is the ability to change and be precise with your energy.  Like I said today during class, as dancers we can flow through movements like nobody’s business, but there’s often no stops, no simple awareness and recognition of the moment.  Often there are too few concrete moments, rather a continuous soup where, as an audience member, you zone out after 5 minutes.

English Questions asked by Nicolas Hubert.

One important quote from the video, "Less control and more sex in the movement please!"