Local Practice 2019

26–27 April 2019

Ofelia Jarl Ortega. Foto: Sebastian Verdon

Local Practice is a continuation and development of the symposium Within Practice—this time in a local miniformat, organized by choreographer Björn Säfsten.

We’ve invited choreographers and performers Gunilla Heilborn and Ofelia Jarl Ortega to share their practices 26–27 April. Additionally, Samlingen will host “Practice/s—An Evening of practice schmactice—the things we do and how do you do?”.

Local Practice jumps off our deep love for artistic practice and our curiosity surrounding our fellow movement-makers. Our gatherings aim to create a space where dialogue is sparked through three different formats creating a environment that stimulates discussions and sharing. In one of the formats one can experience a practice through ones own body, one gives the possibility to take part of a practice-presentation by the invited artists and one format is an evening of practice sharing between all the artists that takes part of the two days. 

Local Practice invites professional dancemakers and performers and curious minds.

“Within Practice” is developed by Säfsten Produktion and DOCH and had its first edition in Stockholm 2018. Look out for our second major edition in the future.

Welcome

  • Björn Säfsten, Initiator and Curator, Säfsten Production
  • Magnus Nordberg, Initiator and Head of production, Nordberg Movement
  • Anja Arnquist, Producer and coordinator, Säfsten Production

Säfsten Produktion presents Local Practice in collaboration with Danscentrum Stockholm and MDT. Made possible with support by the Swedish Arts Council, Stockholm Stad and The Swedish Arts Grants Committee.

Calendar

APR26
Workshops
Gunilla HeilbornGunilla Heilborn
12.30–16.30, MDT
Workshops
Ofelia Jarl OrtegaOfelia Jarl Ortega
12.30–16.30, Danscentrum Stockholm
Practice/s—En kväll of practice schmactice—the things we do and how do you do?Practice/s—En kväll of practice schmactice—the things we do and how do you do?
19.00, Danscentrum Stockholm
APR27
Workshops
Gunilla HeilbornGunilla Heilborn
12.30–16.30, MDT
Workshops
Ofelia Jarl OrtegaOfelia Jarl Ortega
12.30–16.30, Danscentrum Stockholm
Practice presentation
Gunilla HeilbornGunilla Heilborn
19.00–20.00, Danscentrum Stockholm
Practice presentation
Ofelia Jarl OrtegaOfelia Jarl Ortega
20.30–21.00, Danscentrum Stockholm

Tickets & Registration

Participants in Local Practice take part in two workshops, an evening with Samlingen and two practice presentations during the course of two days.

Cost for professional dancers and performers SEK 200—which includes participation in the workshops and entrance to the evenings at Danscentrum Stockholm.

If you are not participating in the workshop, but wants to see the practice presentations, you can book your tickets through, localpractice@bjorn-safsten.com.

Registration

Registration is done through localpractice@bjorn-safsten.com no later than April 12. Please send a short description of your background and current undertakings. The event is limited to 40 participants.

Cost

200kr: which includes participation in the workshops, entrance to the practice presentations and the sharing evening with Samlingen at Danscentrum Stockholm.
50kr: entrance to the practice presentations at Danscentrum Stockholm.

Venues

Danscentrum Stockholm, Jungfrugatan 7B. T–ÖstermalmstorgMDT, Slupskjulsvägen 30, Skeppsholmen

 

 

Gunilla Heilborn

Workshop: TEXT IN A CHOREOGRAPHED WAY

What is it when we use text in a ”dance performance”? I know it’s an old question, but why isn’t it theatre? This keeps fascinating me. And I believe that the choreographic way to use words on stage, is an outstanding way. To paraphrase Peter Greenaway (who talked about film): ”Words are a too sophisticated to be left to the story tellers”. So, I guess the workshop with deal with words. You should consider yourself happy that I will not teach you a movement phrase.

Presentation: NO PRACTICE PRESENTATION

I’m not really sure if I have a practice.I take walks.
I drink coffee on a regular basis.I read a lot, but I never think about anything I do as a practice or maybe I just don’t understand the word.This presentation will therefor try to find out if I have a practice or not.It might include some auto fiction (you know, like Knausgaard), or just a pile of texts that needs to be organized.

Gunilla Heilborn is a Swedish choreographer and filmmaker. After studies studies in media and for Anna Halprin at San Fransisco Dancers Workshop, she did a choreography education at what is now DOCH. She graduated from there 1998 and has since then created stage productions as well as shortfilms and a tv-series. She works toghether with an artistic team and a group of perfomers that has shifted over the years, but with a strong core in performers like Kristiina Viiala, Johan Thelander, Henrik Vikman, Louise Peterhoff, Lisa Östberg and many others. These great performers show up on stage as well as in the movies. Gradually moving from work that had movement as a base (but also always included text and mulitmedia), she has lately moved into more textbased productions. For example the two Performance Lectures The Knowledge and The Book. Her favorite part of making work is the research period. She is currently working at Turteatern in Stockholm with the production MONUMENT. It's part three in her trilogy about memory and premieres the 22nd of March.

Ofelia Jarl Ortega

Workshop: ​Eyes wide shut

Here I will share my practices around gazing and letting others gaze back at you. In this workshop gazing is used as choreographic material. Together we will look at ourselves and each other through imaginary and actual images and situations. From my interest in sexuality and sensuality, across erotic aesthetics, the gaze has taken a crucial role in my work. With this as a point of departure we will dance, talk, and see where gazing can bring us.

Presentation: ​Practice presentation

Simply me performing my practices without what frames it as a performance. I premiere my next solo “StM” only three weeks after this presentation, and I’m curious to be with my practices in a different way than in the frame of a performance. Since I’m interested in the relation between performer and audience I have several works that are part of an ongoing investigation, never fixated but in constant transformation. These are often practiced and developed in the format of a performance. For this presentation though, I will try to be more dry, stay with the practice and not with everything around that makes it into a performance.

Ofelia Jarl Ortega is a choreographer and performer based in Stockholm. Her work centers around vulnerability and femininity, often with a suggestive erotic aesthetic; lately a notion of “voluntary objectification” has been at the core for her investigations. She has a MA in Choreography from DOCH, Stockholm, and her works have been shown at venues including ImPulsTanz (Vienna), MDT (Stockholm), Inkonst (Malmö), Les Urbaines (Lausanne), Manifesta11 (Zürich). Jarl Ortega received the Young Choreographers’ Award at ImPulsTanz (Vienna International Dance Festival) 2018 for her latest piece “B.B.”.

Practice/s—En kväll of practice schmactice—the things we do and how do you do?

Local Practice also offers a format that is an open source/sharing evening. For this Local Practice, Samlingen is invited to share an evening of re-membering the his/herstories of practice, in which all the participants can contribute with their own stories.

Samlingen thinks the dance scene lacks knowledge about its own history. About stories, traditions, experiences. It lacks knowledge about the people who made the history, not only about those who wrote it. The dancer is not really well known as a history writer, but she kind of is. History writing is also made body to body, mouth to ear, and mouth to mouth. This is not to say that dancers do not talk or write. On the contrary, dancers are great talkers and writers. Samlingen makes an attempt to combine feminist strategies of history writing that highlight the physical knowledge, the experience and knowledge transferred body to body, the subjective stories, the oral history and herstory of dance.

Now Samlingen is represented by Halla and Zoë in the context of Local Practice where we will spend the evening re-membering the his/herstories of practice. Based on memories, anecdotes and historical facts we move through the official and the unofficial, the told and untold, the celebrated and the ignored. Join us to map how we practice dancing together, calling on past, present and future ghosts, methods, premonitions and procedures.

Samlingen means the collection or the assembly, and is a choreographic project that facilitates a common interest in choreography and feminism intertwined with dance history. We, Amanda Apetrea (SE), Nadja Hjorton (SE), Halla Ólafsdóttir (IS), Stina Nyberg (SE) and Zoë Poluch (CA) initiated Samlingen in Sweden in 2013. In Sweden, Samlingen has collaborated with the Cullberg Ballet, Kulturhuset Stockholm, Post Dance Conference and publication, and internationally participated in Works at Work-festival (DK), Batard festival and publication (BE), and Danske Dansehistorier (Danish Dance Histories, DK). Samlingen is currently working on a tour with the National touring theatre of Sweden that will lead them to four different places in Sweden where they will choreograph durational pieces with local artists.