Dama 18: Silence!

Dama Silence! – A collaboration between Silence! –festival and Dama network

Course description

Dama Silence! Is a workshop aligned together with the Silence! festival in Kaukonen village, Kittilä, Finland. The festival presents interesting Finnish and foreign contemporary circus, dance, and music as well as smaller experimental inter-disciplinary artworks and performances. The atmosphere of the festival is cozy and the pace is slow - everyone has time to see the performances, meet artists, have interesting encounters and make new friends. To this setting it is very interesting to create a dama workshop, which have by default always been inter-disciplinary and presenting new areas and modes of expression to participants, but in some occasions have been quite media-centered. What happens to media if there is no electricity? Perhaps it is good to switch off once in a while?

Aims

 •To be able to work in an inter-disciplinary and international group

 • The ability to work with lo-fi technology: without computers, smart phones etc.

 • The ability to create music, soundscapes and visuals using lo-fi tools

 • To get inspiration from the surroundings

 • Choreographic silence

Content

 • Morning exercises for body-awareness

 • Small creative exercises

 • Short keynote lectures by Dama teachers

 • Group work aiming for a public demo

 • Attending performances during the Silence! festival (on own cost)

 • Discussions with festival artists and producers

 • Documentation and report

• theory and practical sessions

Keywords

Performing arts, music, sound, silence, lo-fi media, collaborative creative practice

Pre-course task

4′33″ is a famous three-movement composition by American experimental composer John Cage (1912–1992). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4′33″. Create an artwork commenting Cage's 4’33” in another medium (e.g dance, video, photography, performance etc.). This will be presented by you on the first day of the workshop.