Connecting The Dots
Aleksandra Janeva Imfeld, geboren in Noord-Macedonië en opgegroeid in Kroatië, studeerde dans in Zagreb, Brugge, Lier, Wenen en New York. Tijdens haar carrière, die varieert van samenwerkingen met het collectief BADco en Ismael Ivoto tot het medeoprichten van de Nomad Dance Academy in de Balkan, ontwikkelde ze zowel The Connector (een vorm van collectief auteurschap) als The Dots (bewegingsonderzoek als instrument voor improvisatie), waarover ze een workshop gaf tijdens onze 10de editie van Out Of The Toolbox. We gingen met haar in gesprek over haar beginjaren, haar onderzoek, haar werk in de filmwereld en haar artistieke filosofie.
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Where did dance start for you?
I was born in Yugoslavia, in what is now North-Macedonia, but moved to Zagreb when I was two. As a child, I often watched television. There was a lot of entertainment and dancing on the screen, which I was immediately fascinated by. Luckily for me, Croatia finds itself in an exceptional situation: there is a school which offers kindergarten, primary and secondary school in contemporary dance, founded by Ana Maletić, a dancer, choreographer, and dance pedagogue who worked closely with Rudolf Laban and incorporated his principles into her teaching. So when I was about 6 years old, I discovered this school, auditioned, and got in. I finished my primary and secondary education there, but then the war came when I was 17. I did not flee, but as there were no further opportunities in Croatia, I saw it as extra motivation to pursue dancing elsewhere. That’s when I moved to Bruges, where I enrolled in a private academy under BLOSO, after which I went to the Academy in Lier. In the meantime I had auditioned for P.A.R.T.S., and gotten in, which would have made me part of the very first generation of students, but I abandoned that idea because simultaneously I was granted a scholarship in New York to be a work-exchange student for Jennifer Muller’s dance company. I wasn't working for the company, but got to take classes in exchange for cleaning the studios. It was there I realised how well off we are in Europe as dancers: at least we can sustain ourselves, while in the States, everyone had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. It wasn't enough for me, so I went back to Europe, where I landed my first job at the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar, after which I worked in Kassel. Ever since then, I keep working as a dancer, a choreographer and a teacher. I may have never fully finished any of my education, but I did gain a lot of experience!
You are one of the co-founders of Nomad Dance Academy. What work did you do with the school?
Since I was 17, I have been living between Belgium and Croatia. It was not always easy to find jobs locally in Belgium, so I was often working around the Balkans. The war broke Yugoslavia up, and subsequently fragmented all the cultural institutions. All the structures were suddenly very fractured, so I had a bit of nostalgia for the unity that once was. There was so much knowledge to share, and I wanted to connect contemporary dance scenes across borders. That's why, 20 years ago, I co-founded the Nomad Dance Academy together with other dance artists, producers and researchers from the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Our goal was to create a dynamic cultural, artistic and educational space where we worked to improve the conditions of the dance sector, and to overcome obstacles caused by national cultural politics. Our students took a program where they had to travel from Sarajevo to Skopje, after which classes took place in Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb and finally landed in Ljubljana. In every city, different conversations were being had because of intercultural differences, which truly enriched everybody’s work. Unfortunately we dissolved as a network last year. On the positive side, we provided 20 years worth of different ways of learning and education as well as strengthening local structures that support contemporary dance To further preserve our work, I am currently making a documentary about Nomad, within a DanceMap project, which is supposed to be done by the end of next year.
You developed a system called The Connector. How would you describe it?
People often joke that I am a connector: I easily make connections, and bring people into contact with each other. But in my work, I believe creation is a collective process, and never assume that I, a singular person, am creating solely by myself. That’s where The Connector comes from. In short, it is a system that produces a form of collective authorship. It works like this: when I create with a group around a certain topic, I invite everyone to share their thoughts and personal connections to the particular topic. The whole group shares their impressions, with which the topic mutates so it becomes more personal for everyone. That way every dancer has a say in the creation! While some projects can be difficult because there is someone who demands a lot of space, The Connector is a way to counter this and to provide a little bit more space for everyone. Through this system, everybody becomes a co-author. Though it is not a perfect tool, otherwise I would be world famous! Yet on some level, it is successful in its aim: I use it in my practices, and get invited to create with new groups. The logical conclusion is that there is something about the process which I provide that people appreciate. It is an artistic compromise, because I don’t get to fully commit to a vision, but everybody feels more emancipated in their creation. Another limitation is that you can’t always promise everyone the same amount of involvement. Furthermore, there are always people in your group who ask for more than you can give. But, I will keep applying it to all my artistic practices, and as a tool it will keep evolving!
The Dots fall under second hand teaching: I developed it from other inspirations and made it my own. Often people tell me that I have to protect it, brand it, keep it my own. But I say no: go with it, explore with it, teach it!
For two editions of Out Of The Toolbox, you have given a workshop on your movement research called The Dots. How did you come up with it?
The Dots came at a point in my dance career where I would watch myself improvise and try to challenge myself to move differently, but feel dissatisfied with the results. During that time, I was working with Dolores Hulan on a duo piece where synchronization was crucial to the piece: I had to move like her. Synchronization was usually no issue for me, as I have a diverse history in dance experience, having danced Graham and ballet as well as being a cheerleader. One gift I’ve always had as a dancer was to adapt to anything and learn a style of moving very fast. But that day, I couldn’t repeat Dolores’ movements as she did. I told her there was something she wasn’t sharing with me, saying one thing and doing another. She shared: “I am imagining that on my head, there are lots of small points, from which I am projecting my body into the space.” Once she said that, I noticed that the shape of her torso movement followed projected points from her head to the ceiling. And it truly changed her shape! I tried to emulate this process, and only then were we synchronised. Simultaneously in that period, I was practicing Feldenkrais, which also uses points in the body with which you have to draw, or focus on. In short, I combined the two and created The Dots.
In 2010 I taught a class for Nomad in Sarajevo, which they called Contemporary Dance Technique. The base line was for the dancers to acquire new tools for improvisation, because they would be asked to do so for auditions. In those classes, I applied the idea of points (or rather, dots) on the head, and applied it to the whole body, which became my first try-out for The Dots. After that, I experimented more with it, and infused it in my teaching. After having received positive feedback, and allowing myself to rework the details, The Dots became my thing.
And how would you explain The Dots to an outsider?
In my classes, I describe it as follows: instead of immediately improvising with your full body, focus on placing one small dot (a little ball) on a bodypart, which will now orchestrate your movement, as if it’s a conductor. This idea will create new, interesting shapes, and allow you to really focus on every aspect of moving. I think it’s a very helpful method for people who’ve never danced, or dancers who are stuck, because it frees you from learned patterns. Throughout the exercise, the dot is always attached to your body, and not freely moving within. Every bit of dance experience you’ve ever learned - be it cheerleading or yoga - is applied through this small dot. We start with one, but eventually we go into multitasking where multiple dots sit on multiple body parts, and then very interesting things happen within the group! If I can be critical of my Dots, I admit that you cannot sustain this exercise for too long. It’s a very tricky process which requires your full attention. The Dots are very brainy, and can be exhausting to maintain. You constantly have to keep observing yourself: there is no opportunity to wander off, or get lost.
With Nomad Dance Academy we once partnered with ImPulsTanz for a European project, where one of the things we did was called “Teaching The Teachers”. We basically made a laboratory for teachers to exchange their educational methods, where we also acknowledged second hand teaching, which means that we learn from our teacher, mix whatever we learned up, and then share this knowledge in new contexts. The Dots also fall under this category: they were inspired by Dolores Hulan and Feldenkrais, yet I teach it as my own thing. During that particular project, I also got the motivation to deeply research and conceptualise The Dots. Often people tell me that I have to protect it, brand it, keep it my own. But I say no: go with it, explore with it, teach it! Maybe other dancers made similar methods for themselves which I am not even aware of, so who am I to gatekeep? And now, someone can learn from me and create their own Dots-inspired system.
Some would say that all dance works like that: we take inspiration and make it our own. What is your opinion on that?
Through an interview for my documentary about Croatian dance archives with Maja Djurinovic, my first ever dance teacher, we discovered a big archive of knowledge, and are now researching heritage through dance teachers and choreographers. Maja was inspired by Milana Brosh who really shaped her as a dancer and a writer. Then she, in turn, inspired me. Dance is just like a big family tree in this way. For example: I will always take the cheerleader in me in everything I do, as I do my other dance experiences, or people I’ve worked with. In my personal viewpoint, all dance is intertwined and some people are just more conscious of it than others. Everything you learn, you bring with you and becomes part of your craft. Your history becomes your shaping, and influences your movement. Even my own systems are intertwined with each other: when I teach The Dots, I bring The Connector into it as well. I aim for every single person in my group to find whatever way they can make it their own.
Besides your documentary, is there anything else we can look forward to?
Currently, we are constructing a monograph about our work with Nomad Dance Academy, and I am also working on a new performance with a group in Croatia. And as in most of the creations I make, there is no fixed movement: I don’t create clean-cut choreography for them to copy. But there are tasks and structures that are set, combined with improvisational tasks. I work like this, partly because it uses the methods I’m now known for teaching, but also because I am too insecure about my own vision and don’t believe in sticking to one for a group creation. So we start working, I get curious about their needs and opinions, and we co-create. All my performances were collective, all my collaborations were collective, and so is this one! But it is fair to admit that I’m a bit tired of that. In the next few years, I want to explore my own vision again. What movements do I like to see? What else can I do with The Dots? When a group is dotting, it creates a beautiful picture of moving sculptures. So maybe, with a bit of choreography from me, it can transform into something more specific? I am 51 now, and it’s time I get more confident in what I do. In Belgium, I seem to not find my footing, but I have done so much in other countries, and provided educational programs for two decades. So while I’m trying out new things, I am quite satisfied with all I have done already.
Text: Bavo Sablon