“What was a private fantasy about dance…maybe there’s something that can mobilize us socially on a whole other scale.” In a recent conversation with leading dance scholar and performer Thomas DeFrantz, choreographer Meg Stuart discusses the ideas and practices that went into the making of the Walker commission Celestial Sorrow, from explorations of the sounding body and breath, to telepathy, sorrow, pleasure, and trance.
In this new Artspeaks video, choreographer Meg Stuart discusses the source material and ideas that drive her dances: from how thoughts move to physical and emotional states, subtle geometries, and gestures. Made on the occasion of her April 2019 residency at the Walker, the video includes footage of An evening of solos and duets, a retrospective dance that revisits 30 years of work, and the Walker commission Celestial Sorrow, made by Stuart and Indonesian visual artist Jompet Kuswidananto. A key aspect of Stuart’s practice, discussed here, is the connection of artistic languages through simple exercises like contact improvisation, and more elaborate forms of collaboration with visual artists.
Sad Songs to Euphoria: Jompet Kuswidananto on the Making of Celestial Sorrow
Celestial Sorrow arose from multiple origins, recalls Indonesian visual artist, theater maker, and musician Jompet Kuswidananto of the performative installation he made in collaboration with choreographer Meg Stuart, "from personal memory to social trauma, from a flood of cat pics to banned sad songs, from sound healing to trance dance. In the end the experience felt like being in a long and random dream." In a wide-ranging interview, he discusses his collaborative artistic practice and the influences that drove the making of the piece.
