Potential for Relationship, Subversion and Emergence

Yet another year to fall... 

No, no!  I am not getting nostalgic of my 40th age up the slope. I am counting ticks for us IDOCDE fans. I am dancing to the ticks. “We” are dancing to the ticks!

Yes, yes! The time of IDOCDE is still ticking loud — some how fast, with bells on! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

And yes, this clock of IDOCDE with its REFLEXive arms now; is an amazing cure for agnosia — counter contemporary "times" within contemporary dance!

Now with more arms, where the tallest of them is Pavle Heidler; IDOCDE is ticking harmoniously, vigorously... new news, attention attention!

 Pavle, an amazing thinker, mover and a joyful new team mate. He is my co-editor - right arm, left leg, right hemisphere, up right cortex... He is here, at the turn of a reflective moment of International Documentation of Contemporary Dance Education. As we defined, planned, launched REFLEX Europe for further exploring the practice of documentation and how it can be utilized in a reflective process in teaching; and as we hope to do the similar reflexive practice for enhancing our website here, I reach out to Pavle and I dare him:

—  Dear Pavle, how do you see your editorial responsibilities when it comes to content of our website?

—  I was taken aback by how differently I navigate through the IDOCDE website when I navigate through it as co-editor [which is, by the way, a role I am not yet entirely used to] — in comparison to how I navigate through it when I’m a private person. Either way I read much in the same pace, but engaging with the content I look for very different things. Most interesting example that comes to mind: my capacity and interest in abstraction (as featured in a variety of idocs) is greater for the private person, than it is for the co-editor. When the co-editor, abstraction can make me confused. Gently confused, but confused nevertheless. Two questions then come to mind: What is the specific qualitative value of abstraction, when abstraction is presented as documentation? What is my co-editorial responsibility towards abstraction — do I even have any? 

Wow, he dares back! And brings me back to the good old discussions we had at the launch of the website itself. "What is good quality documentation?”

—  As REFLEX Europe is already inquiring to find examples — from any end of the spectrum of academic to artistic (abstract if you like) — and as the Research Group is getting ready to launch a little survey to understand how we contemporary dance teachers utilize documents and documenting; I would like to hear your opinion here, dear Pavle. Let yourself be our first interviewee...

What is your personal interest in documentation? Do you document your work? If so how? Do you get outside/professional help to document your work? Why do you document? What is the purpose of your documentation? For whom do you documentWhat kind of tools do you use?

And yes, this is a joke Pavle. It would be another MA thesis to write... But why not start thinking about these as you are warming up for your co-editorial marathon... And all idocdeistas, same goes for all of us... In the new year to come we will mind our work together... Don't we need warm ups?! Here we go…

 To give you, Dear Reader, a little bit of a background on how this dialogue came to be: Defne and myself met briefly through Skype to discuss our working method. I was 30 minutes late, (frozen overground tracks of metro system). Defne had to leave soon after I arrived, which left us with approx. 10 minutes to decide to continue this effort with a virtual written dialogue. —  a call and response. My latest words to Defne comes in response to all the questions you see written above.

 — As you anticipated Defne— I will not answer the questions you pose in this editorial. I do feel eager, though, to take the challenge up at some point. Exciting questions these are. I could publish my answers in an idoc, n’est pas? I think it would be healthy for me to attend to these questions. 

That said, I would like take a moment to reference two of the questions right now. Namely: For whom do you document?, and: What is the purpose of your documentation? — I think those directly relate to my current interest, which is the value of abstraction in documentation. I wanted to take a moment to specify, or clarify this interest and my motivation to bring it up in this… document.

— I am very curious… But hold on a minute… Are we Being [Un]Necessary?! at this specific line in time…

— Shouldn’t we be [Un]Necessary?! We do believe in “The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary”. We even started this conversation to announce “The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary”. 

— Yes! Let’s take a moment to announce it now then!

Dear IDOCDEistas, The call for Proposals is open and ready for your creative inquiries... Let’s keep on the calls & responses then and there in the new year, in the new Symposium; i.e “The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary”.

— Upcoming 4^th IDOCDE Symposium (is it safe to say traditionally?) next summer in Vienna! Entitled “The Importance of Being [Un]Necessary”, the Symposium seeks your attention!

The time of IDOCDE is ticking— some how fast, with bells on...

Enjoy each and every tick in dance! Close to us, here and there, online and offline!

Defne & Pavle

BEHIND THE SCENES:

— No no, I am not able to let go of this Dear Pavle. Would you please move on with your line of thought on "abstraction in documentation" for me and the curious peeking teachers who are willing to hear more from you now...

— When I encounter abstraction in a document — and I’m writing from the point of view of the co-editor now — I see that it greatly informs the style of my reading, so to speak. When I encounter abstraction I ease on the informed and critical thinking, and engage with poetic and experiential thinking. In comparison to one another, abstract documents inspire me; they make the experience of reading and engaging with the document — about myself, my interests and my desires. Less abstract, more informative documents give me a sensation of having learned something new about somebody else’s work and interests. I get to practice giving attention to another/the other.

Now, the reason I bring this up is because I can anticipate my co-editorial interest to be to support a creative combination of the two. I can imagine supporting creations of documents that are both informative and inspiring, if you get what I mean. Not either/or, but both. What that means exactly will be a question of negotiation, but voila.

I thought that as my introduction to you, dear IDOCDEistas, dear users of this platform, I would reveal my current interest and desires. Because, I realize, sooner or later — we will meet on the floor, (the 4^th IDOCDE Symposium is a head of us) in search for the most relevant and appropriate, suitable and communicative document. You might as well know in advance where my thinking is coming from.

Lastly, let me say that I think a “combination-document” is valuable because it potentially caters to a “combination-audience”. This is in reference to the question: For whom do you document? I am of the opinion that — unless it is specified in advanced by the recipient of the document — how am I to know for whom do I document? Especially in the context of IDOCDE, where documentation exists for the audience as much as it does for the subject that is being documented. It comes down to symbiosis, doesn’t it?

Symbiosis for all, the future is here. :) Happy new year, every body's body!

Pavle