The graphic contrast between the verticality of the pole and the line of horizon of the sea highlights her continuous drive up the pole. Her action on the pole thus creates a focal point in the vastness of space.
Dansand! - Festival of contemporary dance
Thursday, June 28 - Sunday, July 1, 2012
Ostend
http://vrijstaato.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/j/4A7C7B077A3B7000
Death of the Pole Dancer was perfromed on December 1 as part of the Late Night program of Baroque Bodies Festival.
Photo documentation, 'Death of the Pole Dancer', Beursshouwburg, Brussels, 12-12-11, photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
In her performance ‘Death of the Pole Dancer’ pole dancer Eisa Jocson (PH) uses all her tricks of the trade to bring about some serious questioning on the way we look at what we think we look at.
Plateau is an arts laboratory for research residencies in which the artist and his/her project take centre stage. This space is primarily geared towards performance, media and installation art.Herdersstraat 30 rue du Berger – 1050 Brussels
Photo documentation, “Horizontal/vertical Dialogues” Passage Through the Night, In Transit 2011, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, photo provided by In Transit 2011.
Performance, Nadine, Brussels, July 2, Saturday, 20h.
She strikes the Pole in her killer stilettos. She shakes, she undulates a libidinal mechanic column. “I just don’t know what to do with myself”.
Death of the Pole Dancer works with spectator’s expectations, encouraging them to reflect on their concept of a pole dance performance and on what they are viewing. In her performance, sexuality and strength, voyeurism and restraint, and vulnerability and violation all collide.
Death of the Pole Dancer was developed during Jocson’s 2-month residency at Nadine. The solo work premiered at In Transit 2011 performance festival in Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. During In Transit, Love your City, a pole dance duet with Singaporean artist Daniel Kok also premiered. Both performances were commissioned by In Transit 2011 and developed during Jocson’s residency at Nadine.
My deepest appreciation to Rasa Alksnyte for her close mentorship all throughout, to Nadine for the artist residency and generous support, to In Transit 2011 for commissioning the works and to Daniel Kok, Tang Fu Kuen, Arco Renz and Angelo Vermeulen.
Video stills, Eisa Jocson and Daniel Kok working at nadine in Brussels, May 2011.
Love Your City
In Transit Performing Arts Festival 2011
House of World Cultures, Berlin
19th June 0030hrs
A Pole Dance Encounter between Daniel Kok (Singapore) and Eisa Jocson (Manila) in Berlin. An artistic collaboration in the service of love. In their first artistic encounter, Eisa Jocson and Daniel Kok become agents of desire: “If anyone asks us: ‘Why do you do this?’, our answer is: ‘We simply want to portray our love in a practical manner. That is all - simple acts of unconditional devotion’
Love your City is developed as part of Eisa Jocson’s artistic research residency at nadine in Brussels and as a part of Daniel Kok’s research for his Master of Arts in “Solo/Dance/Authorship” at the Universität der Künste. Love your City is produced by In Transit 2011.
ABOUT NADINE
nadine is an arts laboratory aimed at developing research focusing on transdisciplinary experiments in the fields of new media and live arts. nadine is a flexible and evolving project that doesn’t shy away from questioning itself, to be able to stay on top of the constantly changing needs of the artists.
Website: http://nadine.be/
Daniel Kok (*1976) won a scholarship from the Public Service Commission Singapore to study Fine Art & Critical Theory at Goldsmiths College in London and choreography at the Laban Centre. Today, the young artist lives in Berlin, where he is doing his Master of Arts in “Solo/Dance/Authorship” at the Universität der Künste. He developed his show, “Q&A”, in 2009 for the Singapore Arts Festival. His other works have been shown in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Yogyakarta and Edinburgh. In 2008, he won the Young Artist Award (Dance), presented by the National Arts Council Singapore.
Website: http://web.mac.com/diskodanny/diskodanny/info.html
Performing Arts Festival
15.06.2011 - 18.06.2011
True to its title, “Spectator”, IN TRANSIT 2011 turns the Haus der Kulturen der Welt into an experimental field in which artists and spectators can be actors and audience at the same time. Under the stewardship of the new artistic director, Jens Hillje, the festival presents performances which playfully question their own relationship with the spectator. IN TRANSIT 2011 examines the politics of speech and the politics of gaze – the two sides of communication in society. How should we speak? Who may say what to whom? What expressions do people make in what circumstances? These discussions can lead to a power of definition in public. At the same time, they also reveal how fragile identities and attributions can be – and how entertaining it can be to play with them.
With Branch Nebula (Sydney), Bulut/Gabia/Baroncea (Berlin/Belgrade/Bucharest), Ivo Dimchev (Sofia), Geumhyung Jeong (Seoul), Ruud Gielens (Brussels), Eisa Jocson (Manila), Daniel Kok (Berlin), Angélica Liddell (Madrid), Yann Marussich (Geneva), Song-Ming Ang (Singapore), Dave St. Pierre (Montreal), Dick Wong (Hongkong), Ming Wong (Singapore/Berlin), Ann Liv Young (New York).
Website: http://hkw.de/en/programm/2011/in_transit_2011/projekt_detail_53858.php
Introduction
Informed by my pole dance practice my research 'Politics of Pole' explores the potential of pole dancing in questioning power relationships within the sexual, the private and the public realm. In the process, I am probing into themes such as sexuality and space, sexualization of culture, sociology of the body, normalization and surveillance.
During my residency at FoAM in May and June 2010, 3 directions were explored. Each evolved into a specific project with its own discourse, aim, methodology and process.
[1] Stainless Borders: The Deconstruction of Architectures of Control
This project is an interventionist project that uses guerilla street pole dancing in combination with graffiti tagging to question and map the limits and possibilities of the body in the urban landscape. Using the body the research works on subverting specific systems of urban authority and control.
Intervention documentation, South Station in Brussels Belgium, Tag 8/05-16-10, photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
Performance documentation, RegentiepleinSint-Niklaas Belgium,Tag 7/05-15-10, photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
Intervention documentation, Grote Market Sint-NiklaasBelgium, Tag 12/ 09-07-10, photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
[2] Domestication of Pole (working title)
This is an experimental film project currently in development at SoundImageCulture in Brussels that started at the same time as my residency at FoAM. ‘Domestication of the Pole’ explores the recent phenomenon of the physical integration of pole dancing in contemporary domestic spaces, and the psychological and symbolic meaning of such transition.
video and sound documentary, project under developement in SIC, 2010.
video and sound documentary, project under developement in SIC, 2010.
[3]Untitled: Pole Performance (working title)
This research platform explores the dynamics of a pole dance performance from its vertical orientation to the relationship of performer and audience. I am interested in exploring the vertical vocabulary of pole drawing upon contemporary methods in dance and performance.
Performance documention, Research Gathering, Artist Talk: Flesh, Steel and Codecs, 06-18-10, photo by Lina Kusait.
Afternoon pole performance documentation, opening of Coup de Ville, Sint-Niklaas Belgium, 09-11-10, photo by Sam Paret.
Documentation of performance, Monsoon, STUK, Leuven, 12-20-10, photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
Monsoon: Apollo 11 (topview ), work in progress by Eisa Jocson and Ugo Dehaes, STUK, Leuven, 12-23-10, video still.
Link to the full Foam Report: http://lib.fo.am/research_report_politics_of_pole
Monsoon 2010
Produced by: Kobalt Works vzw/asbl
Project initiator and artistic coordination: Arco Renz
Production coordination: Wieter Bloemen
Co-Curator: Bart Van Den Eynde
Video documentation: Wen-Chi Su
Participants: André Erlen, Choy Ka Fai, Eisa Jocson, Eko Supriyanto, Moly Chan Vuth, Sybille Wilson, Tom Verbruggen, Ugo Dehaes
ZAP guests: Angelo Vermeulen, Kevin Talbot, Rudi Laermans
Technical coordination: Richard Kerkhofs
Technical team: Johannes Vochten, Roel Penninckx, Jesse Janssen, Karin Demedts, Neil Van Pee
Production and creation: Kobalt Works vzw/asbl
With the logistic support of STUK Art Center, Leuven
With the financial support of Asia-Europe Foundation as a part of the Asia-Europe Cultural PartnershipsInitiative Programme"
With many thanks to: Katelijn Verstraete, Sasiwimon Wongjarin (Aom), Karen Verlinden, Els De Bodt, Karen Joosten, Klaus Ludwig, Isabelle Finet, Veerle De Pooter, Amrita Performing Arts, Suon Bun Rith
Kobalt Works vzw is support by The Flemisch Government
Arco Renz/Kobalt Works is artist in residence in STUK Art Center
The Source of Monsoon contributed by Katelijn Verstraete.
Arco Renz in this article talks to Katelijn Verstraete, Asia-Europe Foundation’s (ASEF) Assistant Director for Cultural Exchange, on how he started with Monsoon and his experiences in the last edition which took place in Leuven, Belgium, in December 2010 and was supported by ASEF.
MONSOON - A whirlwind of global culture contributed by Ramona David.
Belgian dramaturge Bart van den Eynde describes his experiences at ‘Monsoon’, a transcultural and multi-disciplinary research and performance platform for Asian and European artists. Initiated and conducted by well-known German choreographer Arco Renz, the third edition of Monsoon took place in Leuven, Belgium, from 18-23 December and was supported by the Asia-Europe Foundation. Eight artists and four guest experts from eight ASEM countries took part in this programme.
Monsoon is a transcultural and multidisciplinary meeting platform for Asian and European artists. It brings together a group of artists from diverse disciplines or cultural policy-makers and three local zap-guests from diverse fields of science. Its process-oriented character aims at overcoming ready-made bilateral stereotypes through the collaborative exploration of artistic practices and the discussion of their diverse cultural and socio-political contexts.
Monsoon 2010 took place in Leuven from December, 18th till 23rd and consisted of 4 European artists and 4 Asian artists. The artists worked in 4 European-Asian couples on new work in the field of contemporary dance, multimedia art, music and performance.
Participating Asian Artists: Eko Supriyanto (Indonesia), Moly Chan Vutgh (Cambodia), Choy Ka Fai (Singapore), Eisa Jocson (Philippines), Supporting video artist: Wen-Chi Su (Taiwan), Participating European Artists: André Erlen (Germany), Tom Verbrughen (The Netherlands), Sybille Wilson (France/United Kingdom), Ugo Dehaes (Belgium).
The Monsoon 2010 program includes 2 public performances:
mo 20 dec 20:30: performance with existing work from the Asian Artists
th 23 dec 20:30: performance with work-in-progress created during the Monsoon 2010 encounters
http://www.stuk.be/en/dance/detail/58099
Monsoon 2010 is the third independent edition initiated by choreographer and performer Arco Renz. This Monsoon is generously supported by the Asia Europe Foundation.
Documentation of performance, Monsoon, STUK, Leuven, 12-20-10.Photo by Angelo Vermeulen.
Monsoon: Apollo 11 (topview ), work in progress by Eisa Jocson and Ugo Dehaes, STUK, Leuven, 12-23-10, video still.
Here is a video showing the performance by Eisa Jocson and Ugo Dehaes during Monsoon in STUK, it is a top-view of the show, and not the perspective of the audience.
Monsoon: Apollo 11 (topview ), work in progress by Eisa Jocson and Ugo Dehaes, STUK, Leuven, 12-23-10, video authored by Ugo Dehaes.
Link to Ugo Dehaes: http://www.kwaadbloed.com/
First Philippine Pole Competition, October 2010, Greenbelt, Onstage
Pole Art AwardStripped to its basics I am interested in the vertical dimension that pole dancing occupies. As a practitioner and instructor of pole dancing, I am versed with a vertical movement vocabulary that originated from the context of strip clubs and developed by popular fitness/dance industry. It was during my artist residency at FoAM in Brussels from May to June 2010, through a close collaboration with Lithuanian choreographer and dancer Rasa Alksnyte, that I began to expand my pole vocabulary using contemporary methods.
Left: Performance of pole piece developed in collaboration with Rasa Alksnyte, Research Gathering, FoAM Brussels, 06-18-10, photo by Lina Kusaite. Right: Pole performance documentation, Opening of Coup de Ville, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 09-11-10, photo by Sam Paret.
Rasa introduced a drawing methodology that initiates exploration, and taps into my visual arts practice. The drawing consisted of a base line in which other elements such as color and line and texture are plotted and numbered. The drawing was then used as an open graph for the creation of a pole dance choreography. The numbers and linear elements plotted in the base line represented the kind and sequence of movement. The physicality of flesh and steel were central images that emerged during this period. The work in progress was first performed during a Research Gathering at the end of my residency at FoAM and was re-performed at the Living Room in Manila in September.
Left: Drawing device, May 2010. Right: Pole performance documentation, Opening of Coup de Ville, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 09-11-10, photo by Rasa Alksnyte.
For my performance at the opening of Coup de Ville, Rasa and I continued our collaboration building up on the previous exploration at FoAM. We focused on the development of a narrative that is based on the progression of movement. Rasa introduced the use of imagery related to segments of the narrative to help establish content and emotional shifts. In connection with Stainless Borders the painting on the floor served as a graffiti tag, marking the space where the body performs. The painting establishes the relation to visual arts as the basis of the performance piece.
Evening pole performance documentation, opening of Coup de Ville, Sint-Niklaas Belgium, 09-11-10, video documentation, Angelo Vermeulen.
Pole dancing is a popular act, it weaves in and out of a display of heightened femininity to a showmanship of acrobatic flexibility and strength. It banks on the formula of seduction, a push and pull between vulnerability and strength. I am interested in challenging the dynamics of a pole dance performance, manipulating expectations and exploring the malleability of social and cultural constructions. In creating new conditions and methods of constructing pole dance performances, this subsequently demands a new way of viewing from the audience.
Deepest appreciation to Rasa Alksnyte for her mentorship and guidance, to FoAM for the artist residency and support, to Stef Van Bellingen for the invitation to participate in Coup de Ville and to Angelo Vermeulen.
