Modul-dance experience. By Agata Mazskiewicz

[modul-dance]

My first encounter with the modul-dance network was in November 2012 in Barcelona when I presented my work and the idea of the piece Duel. I was trumphally pregnant at that time so I new that if I want to create that show I would really need some support. My budget was ridicoulously small and on top I wished to check for the first time how it is to direct the others without being at the same time a performer (regarding my condition but as well in order to change the way I used to work). And thanks to the modul-dance network I managed.

After the mentionned above presentation it took me a year to finalize the piece. I was already after a first research period. All the working phases took places in the associated dance houses. Luckily three of them coproduced the show (one came "on board" after the meeting in Barcelona). Besides that and a help of the Polish Ministry of Culture (received by the Art Stations Foundation) I did not get any other support. So the budget stayed small but what had mainly changed was the fact that I could offer to the team very good conditions of work. The modular system helped me to get distance to the created material and to continue working in the "between periods". It gave me more time to prepare the studio rehearsals were the whole team would gather together. It was needed as in the same time I was taking care of the production matters. That why I apreciated the fact that we have met everybody personally in Barcelona. It helped the communication process to become smooth and direct without any burocractic nonsense or stiff protocols. It was honestly a great relief and this "humane" aspect of the whole production process I appreciate the most. I find it harder to establish an easy going relation with the programmer than with the other artist but within the modul-dance network it all happened in a relaxed way. I guess because the rules were very clear: it was all about matching. The artists were looking for the right house to get the right support for his/hers work, the curators were looking for the right artists to help him/her develop the right work. And whatever right means it was clear from the beginning that there is no need to come along with everybody.

So now its end of April 2014. My son Leon is 16 months old and the Duel had its premiere in November 2013. But... the show is not over . The original crew of the piece hapilly decided to spread in the world with their own babies so now it is my time to perform the piece. At the moment I'm working with another dancer on an adaptation of Duel which will be presented in Poznań in Art Stations Foundation the upcoming June and later on in CND Paris in November (were I was invited for a residency to rehearse the new version of the show). So luckily, even after the premiere I still get the chance to work on the piece following the idea that the "final presentation" does not have to be the end of creation.

Picture: © Peter Fiebig