Defigurative Choreography: Duchamp & Forsythe

8/9/2019 Defigurative Choreography: Duchamp & Forsythe

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Defigurative Choreography: From Marcel Duchamp to William ForsytheAuthor(s): Gabriele Brandstetter and Marta UlvaeusSource: TDR (1988-), Vol. 42, No. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 37-55Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1146717

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38

GabrieleBrandstetter

body presents

figure

as

a

unity.

In theatrical

performance

conventions,

figure

has

traditionally

been the bearer

of

identity.

But in relation

to the

choreo-

graphic

text,

figure

also

means the

unity

of a movement

figure

and the

deriva-

tive

possibilities

of its

positioning

in the

syntax

of

movement

sequences.

The

task of

choreography-with

which

Forsythe

confronts himself

in his

works-is

to abandon

this notion

of

figure

as

unity

(or,

as

he

says,

as

operative

unity ),

to

stage

this dissolution

within and

by

means

of the

choreographic

presentation

of

figure.

One

springs

out

of one's

own

body

into

nothingness,

into

'Man

wei3

nicht'

[one

doesn't

know]

(Forsythe

n Odenthal

I994:34).

Before

I

follow this

process-the

dissolution of

figure,

which

presents

itself

as

defiguration-in Forsythe's

work,

I would like to

show

certain

possibilities

of

representation

and dissolution

(and

dissolution

within

representation)

of

figure

using

the

model

of the

Transformer

(see

Hawthorne

1989

and

Lyotard

1977).

A

Transformer

s a

small

figure,

a

toy

statue,

made

of:

connected

pieces,

which

in

one form

look

like

a

robot,

while

in

a

sec-

ond,

they

resemble

something

different:

a vehicle

(truck,

car,

motor-

cycle),

an

animal

(insect

or

dinosaur),

or

one of

the

inanimate

objects

(a

cassette,

a

tape

recorder)

that

increasingly

have

been

making

their

way

into

preteen

culture.

(Hawthorne

I989:2)3

Transformers are

two

different

figures

in

one,

two

corporeal

manifestations,

which

through

certain

manipulations-through

slip

mechanisms and

snap

de-

vices-are

converted

into one

another

by

means of

hinges.

The

term

Trans-

former

describes

the

changing

of

form,

which is not

a

metamorphosis,

but a

folding

of

prefigured patterns

into

a

mechanically

equipped

alter

ego.

They

are

cars or radios

anthropomorphosized.

Through

a

few

opening

move-

ments

they

are concealed or

revealed

as

fantastic

robots.

An

ad

states,

Trans-

formers-more

than

meets

the

eyes.

Transformers-robots in

disguise

(in

Hawthorne

I989:6).

The

Transformer

becomes the

figure

of a

form-changing

and

-disappearing

in

which a back

and forth

(fort/da)

game

of

defiguration

and

refiguration

becomes

visible-an

illusion in

which

the

Transformer is

staged

as

performer.

The ad

slogan

refers

not

only

to the

doubled form

but

also to

the

necessity

of

a double

vision.

The

manifestation

of

the

Transformer

that is

in

view

doesn't

let its

alternate

figure

disappear

completely.

This

one,

on

the

horizon

of

anticipated

repetition,

lies at the

periphery

of the

visual

field-it is

absent and

yet

still

barely

present

on

the

horizon

of

the

transformativeact.

But

the

mechanics of

folding

into the

one or

the other

without an

intermediate

space

entering

as a

gap

between them in the moment of

twisting,

a

mechanics

which

thereby

admits no

deviation

from the

cliches of

the

product,

neverthe-

less

reinforces a

preset

binary

pattern

in

that

it

reduces all

relationships

to

confrontations

(6).

The

fascination

of the

transformer

s

simple-Porsche

as

Batman,

Batman

as

Porsche.

As

processes

of

defiguration

and

refiguration

in

choreography,

trans-

former/transformation

suggests

something

different.

Forsythe's

pieces

work

at the

opening

of such

simple

folding

structures.

Choreographer

and

dancer

become

transformers of

open figures,

transformersof

themselves:

You're

in

the

situation

that

you

watch a

piece

that

isn't

yours.

I

called

it

Alie/nA(c)tion.

I

created a

piece

that's a

stranger

to me.

I

don't

know the

choreography

(Forsythein Odenthal 1994:36).

Alie/nA(c)tion,

ike

Forsythe's

other

choreographies,

has

to do

with this

act of

the

foreignness

of the

same as a

modality

of

not

knowing;4

it

has to do

with

the

experience

of

otherness,

strangeness,

and

alienation

as

performance,

as

ac-

tion,

and

as

process.

The

dissolution-de-

and

refiguration-of

figure

in


4/20

Defigurative

Choreography

39

choreography

is not

possible

without

giving

up

the idea of

identity

that,

in the

performance

of

signs,

is

coupled

with

representation.

I will trace these

as-

pects

along

two

lines: first of

all,

in

terms

of the surrender of

figure

as the

formula for

identity

and

pictorial

unity

in artistic

representation-a

transgres-

sion

of the borders

of

art

as

a

system

and its

presentation

in

the artifact-which

is

prominent

in

the

works

of

Marcel

Duchamp.

As an

example,

I

will

consider

his work

usually

referred

to

as

the

Large

Glass

(I915-1923),

as

well

as its cho-

reographic

transcriptions.

The

relation

of

figure

at the interface of

image

and

movement

is evident

in the work's actual

title,

La Mariee mise a nu

par

ses

celibataires,

meme

(The

Bride

Stripped

Bare

by

Her

Bachelors,

Even),

a

title

which no

longer

acts as the

topos

of

identity indicating

unity,

but rather enters

into a

choreographic

translation

with the

decentering

and

marginalization

of

meme,

the

topographical

figure

of

identity.

I

will then follow the

processes

of

defigurative choreographing

in

various works

of

William

Forsythe.

Meme-or Decentered Movement

With

Marcel

Duchamp's

work

The

Large

Glass-which he worked on

from

I915

to

1922

and

officially

declared

definitively

unfinished

in

I9235-the

notion of the

work

in

its

insularity

moves

out

of the

center

of

representa-

tional conventions. With this

work

Duchamp

formulated the

question

of

whether there exists between the

designations

of

art

and

anti-art a third

possi-

bility-a

locus

of indifference in

aesthetic

specification.

The

work of the artist

begins

at

this

site

of

indetermination,

out of the

not-deciding,

as

movement,

a

movement

that- as

critique

of

painting 6-becomes

an

open-ended passage

from the center to the

margin

of the field

of

determination

in

art.

Duchamp

spoke

of

a

great

delay -a

process

which in no

way

refers to

production.

It

doesn't have to do with the

time

or

tempo

of the

creative

process,

but rather

with

the

movement itself as the structure of

representation. Delay,

as end-

lessly

slowed-down

movement,

replaces

he

appearance

of the

image.

Move-

ment

becomes

image.

In

the notes to

the Green Box

(1934)

Duchamp

wrote:

Use

'delay'

instead

of

picture

or

painting; picture

on

glass

becomes

delay

in

glass-but delay

in

glass

does not mean

picture

on

glass

(in

Sanouillet and

Peterson

I973:26).

Thereby

neither

the

category

of the

presentation

itself

(art

as

the

representational

form)

nor

the

genre

(picture,

painting,

sculpture)

is

nameable:

Time,

which can in

no

way

be

fixed,

alone

steps

into

the

gap

of in-

determination- A

delay

in

glass

(Daniels

1992:73).

Delay, referring

to what?

Correlative sizes of the

site,

the relative

time,

and fixed coordinates

are not

discernable. In terms of the motionless and static connotations of

glass,

this

formula

of retardation works

like an ironic

reversal of the

dynamism

of

the

avantgarde

(the

Dynamo

of

the

Futurists,

for

example)-the

process

of end-

less

slowing

down until the

melting

point

is

reached.

Octavio Paz

considered this

glass

and its

enclosures-and

here even the

spectator

is

enclosed,

since he can't

perceive

this

glass

sculpture

without

seeing

himself

in

it-as

one of the

most hermetic

works of

our

century

(1978:29).

But

I

am not

concerned here with

an

analysis

of the

many interpre-

tations of

the

Large

Glass,

the

Machines

Celibataires

see

Carrouges

1954;

see

also Szeemann

I975).

Rather,

I

am

considering

the act

of

staging

as

staging

of

the

act-of

the act

in

the

sense of

action and

acting

as well as in the

sense of

nude portraiture n the visual arts.

Duchamp

began

his career with his scandal-

provoking

painting

Nu

descendant

un escalier

Nude

Descending

a

Staircase,

19I2)-a

presentation

of

nudity

literally

set

in

motion.

The

choreography

in

Duchamp's

work,

which

moves the

figure

of the

nude

(as

a

unity)

out of the

center and into

an undefined

border

zone,

already

begins

with

this

early


5/20

I


6/20

Defigurative

Choreography

41

painting;

mise a nu7-a

staging

(mise-en-scene)

of the nude

as act

of the

act

and

as

staging

of the

staging,

meme.

The movement of

delay

also

appears

in the title La

Mariee

mise

a nu

par

ses

celibataires,

mmem...

tself.8

The

title

stages

a

figure

of decenteredness.

In

the

winding

movement

of

the

phrase,

there is

a

pull

toward the

periphery-glid-

ing

out to the

margin

and over the

edge

in the

ellipsis

of an

interrupted

line,

as an

undefinable rallentando

gradual

slowing].

The

adverb

meme,

pushed

to

the

edge,

after

the

comma,

was added

later

by

Duchamp

(Paz

1978:33;

Daniels

1992:97

ff)-this

too a

delay.

Used as an

adjective,

the word

meme

signals

an

almost

emphatic

intonation of

identity.

According

to

Maurice

Grevisse,

meme

stands

as

adjectif indefini'

et

variable or that

instance that is

not the

other

( qui

n'est

pas

autre ) I980:514).

Meme,

whose

etymological

roots

go

back

to

the

Latin

egomet

pse

( moi-meme

n

personne ),9

tresses

identity

in

more

ways

than one. Le

grand

Robert ists the

following

uses for

meme:

l'identite

absolue

of

the

one and

the

same;

simultaneity

(la simultaneite);

imilarity

(la

similitude);

and

equality

(l'egalite)

(Robert

1985:353)-the

absolutely

homogeneous,

af-

firmed as a

figure

of

unity

with the term meme.

Does meme as a

figure

of

identity

now

slip

out

of the

center of

the

Large

Glass

(the

center that

displays

love-m'aime)'I

to the

periphery?

As an

adverb

following

the

sentence,

meme, self/even,

moves to

the

edge,

into a

marginal

position,

in

which

not

identity

but

uncertainty

and

openness

are

indicated. As

an

adverb,

meme becomes a

particle

of

indeterminacy,

the

supplemental

word,

which

Duchamp,

in

interviews

with

Pierre

Cabanne,

claimed

he added

precisely

because it had

no

significance

and

had

nothing

to do

with the

title or

the art-

work:

The

adverb,

a

magnificent

demonstration of

'adverbiality'

meant

noth-

ing

(Paz

I978:33).

The

particle's

ambivalent

position-as

a

figure

of

uncertainty-at

the

margin

of the

sentence,

enables

movement:

the

pull

away

from the center-the point that in

choreographic

terms marksthe

midpoint

(of

the

circle)

as

the locus of

identity

of

the

figure

(Forsythe

sets

up

and

disturbs

his

ballet

topos

in

his

choreography

for In the

Middle,

Somewhat

Elevated,

I988)-

into

the

open

produces

a

curious

suction.

This

movement-always,

of

course,

slowed

down-appears

as

repeated

thrusts,

as,

perhaps,

in

the

many supplemen-

tal

notes,

the

texts from

the

so-called Green

Box,

which

enabled

the

Large

Glass

to

become a

book'2

and

an

exhibition room

(en

miniature).'3

This

movement of

supplements

to

the

text of the

Large

Glass,

which

stages

the

nude

anew as

eros'

matrix,

continues

on

the

stage

in

the

works of

Merce

Cunningham

and

Jan

Fabre,

which I

shall

briefly

examine.

First,

con-

sider

Merce

Cunningham's

choreography

in

Walkaround

Time

(1968),

for

which Jasper Johns reproduced Duchamp's La Mariee mise a nu

par

ses

celibataires,

meme.

The

Large

Glass

was

divided

up

and

screened on

individual,

mobile,

clear

plastic

boxes that

were

scattered

throughout

the

room

(see

Sontag

I990:30

fi).

This

time,

the

Large

Glass

(which

by

I93I

had been

bro-

ken in

transport),

has

stepped

out,

scattered,

from

its

own

center.

In

the

movement of

the

nine

dancers

(an

analogy

to

the

nine

celibataires

in

Duchamp's

Large

Glass)

between

the

transparent

glass

cubes,

the

figures

are

staged

to be

next to

each

other

and

after

each

other

at one

and

the

same

time.

Their

bodies

show

through

the

glass,

and in

a

constant

exchanging

of

posi-

tions,

a

proliferation

of

the

figures

occurs:

they

are

alternately

placed

in

front

of or

behind

the

transparent

geometric

bodies,

appearing

as

if

they

are

embed-

ded in exhibition cases. Following Cunningham's choreographic principle of

taking every

location

and

every

figure

in

the room

as

equal

and

equally

en-

titled,

using

chance to

situate

the bodies

as

points

in

space

and

time

(see

Cunningham

in

Kostelanetz

I992:37-39)

and

allowing

all

viewer

perspectives

in

this

spatial

arrangement,

the

multiplied

glass

becomes a

staggered

frame of

movement.

A

frame,

however,

which-as

mise-en-scene of

the

figures-itself

1. The Bride

Stripped

Bare

by

Her

Bachelors,

Even

(The

Large

Glass)

by

Marcel

Duchamp

1915-

1923).Oil, varnish,ead

foil,

leadwire.

Philadelphia

Museum

of

Art:

Bequest

f

Katherine

. Dreier.

Photo

courtesy

f

the

Philadelphia

Museum

of

Art)


7/20

42


participates

in the movement.

The

displayed

transparency

of the

glass

allows

the bodies

of the

dancers

to

appear

incorporeal,

transparent,comparable

to

the

exhibitive and

mirror effect

of

shop

windows.'4

The view

through

the

ex-

posed

figures

becomes

the mise-en-scene

of the mise

a

nu-of

the act

of

movement and

of

the

unclothed

figure.

Cunningham

sets

Duchamp's cut-up

love-machine into

separate geometrical

figures

within his

choreography,

and

the movement

of the dancers

in the

gaps

becomes the

hinge

of the

decentered

parts.

15

The

logic

of the

hinge,

writes

Paz,

rules the world

of

Duchamp's

work:

What

unites,

separates;

by

uncovering

the

object,

transparency nterposes

itself between

that

object

and

my gaze

[...I]t

is the

glass

that

separates

us

from

the desired

object

but which at

the same

time makes it

visible. The

glass

of otherness

and

of

sameness:

we cannot break it or

escape

from

it

because the

image

that reveals

us is our own

image

as we watch

it

watch.

(Paz

1978:152-53)

Always

gliding

toward

the

periphery-in

the

border

position

of

the

self/

meme,

into

the

out(side)

of the

identity-figure-the

dancers

walk

(sit,

stand,

pause)

in

the circle of

time.16 The

alphabet

of the

Cunninghamesque

movement

figures,

the elements of

his

training

such as

the roll

ups,

everyday

movements,

as

well as

complex

jump

combinations and

balance

positions,

step

into

the

trans-

parent

image-space

of

the

glass:

motion

inclusions,

implements

of

time.

Delay,

the

deceleration

of the

relationship

between

text

and

production,

appears

to

apply

to the

aforementioned

transcriptions

of the

Large

Glass as

well

as to the

Large

Glass

itself.'7 The

circularity

of

the

process

in

the erotic

ma-

chinery of the LargeGlass-the Walkaround ime of a never resolved

suspense

of

desire-becomes

the motor

that drives

Jan

Fabre's

piece

Elle etait et elle

est,

mmem

She

Was and

She

Is,

Even,

1991).

Fabre,

who

counts

Duchamp

among

the artists

who

have

influenced his

work,

staged

the

Large

Glass

as

an

incessantly

cycling

speech-movement

(see

Mattenklott

1993).

The

Bride as

sex-cylinder

(Duchamp)

in La

Mariee

mise

nu

par

ses

celibataires,

memebecomes a

speech

machine in

Fabre's

transcrip-

tion.

In

Duchamp's

Glass,

the

letter box of

the

alphabet

forms

the

hinge

between the

vertical

and the

horizontal

parts

of

the

Bride: The

line of

sepa-

ration

between above

and

below/

is

my

desire-magnet

(Fabre

I99I:37).

Sub-

sequently,

in

delay,

the

mixture

of

letters

is

expelled.

Fabre's

nonstop speech

from the mouth of the Bride-the subtitle reads: Solo for a Young (Mary

Ascending)

Woman -exhibits an

ejaculate

of

never-changing

words

issuing

from

desire's

machine

celibataire.

My only

function

consists of

making

love

again

and

again

and

again

and

again,

and

again,

and

again

in

many

different

forms.

(Fabre

I991:30)

In a monotonous voice, the Bride, sous toutes sortes de figures, spells out

text

from

Duchamp's

Large

Glass,

ordering

its

elements into

an

assemblage

of

quotations:

the

chocolate

grinder,

fly

wheel,

pistons

and

buffers,

cylinders,

tin,

cords and

iron

wire,

illuminating

gas

and

love

gaso-

line ;

men/spectators- the

poor

suckers...voyeurs/

with a stolen

glance/

in

wait

for

my

undressing

(Fabre

I991:33).

Mise

a nu de

moi-meme,

and

yet


8/20

Defigurative

Choreography

43

no

exposed

I

(33)-a

meme that

is

marked,

and

that indicates

the

identite

absolue -is revealed

here;

there

is

only

emptiness.

Fabre's

choreography

stages

this

exposing

(of

emptiness) through

the

posi-

tioning

of the

bodies and

spaces.

In the

production

of

She Was and

She

Is,

Even

he

staged

three

spaces

in

a

specific

relationship:

on one

side,

the inner

stage

space,

on the

other,

the audience

space-as

a

long,

narrow,

dark

body

for

the

'voyeurs '

(in

Hoet

and de

Greef

1994:127).

In

between

lies

another

space,

a

no-man's-land

separated

by

a

lit

surface:

he

space

of

the

enraptured

igure

of

the woman

(Assomption),

Mariee/Maria. The

in-between-space

as

eternal

pas-

sage

between

longing

and

fulfillment

(127).

This

space,

which

remains

empty-blank-becomes

the

objet

rouve

f the

choreography.

The lit

surface

is

forced

open

as the

locus of

transparency;

ut in

as

figure,

and in

there

the

in-

sect

of

the

Bride'8

presents

itself

as

(glass)

enclosure. In

France,

mariee

s

the

popular

name for a

moth:

noctuelle

(owl

moth)

in

glass

(Paz

1978:33-34).

With the idea of

the

insect Fabre

makes another

connection to

Duchamp,

to

both the

Large

Glass

and the

most

famous of his

Readymades,'9

he

urinal titled

Fontain

(1917):

to the

one,

with his

object

Passage

(1993),

a

sculpture

of a uri-

nal

completely

covered

with

preserved,

large,

shimmering-blue

beetles;

and

the

other,

with

a

series

of

female

figures

that are

exhibited as an

installation

entitled

Wall

of

the

ClimbingAngel

(I994).

Here,

Fabre works

with

wire

sculptures

that

resemble

female

mannequins

and

are

covered with

dresses

made of

shimmering

beetle

shells.

Suspended

in

the

emptiness

of the

gallery

space,

these

suits of

ar-

mor-a frozen

metamorphosis

between

nature

and

art-again

etch the

space

of

the Mariee

(the

virgin/the insect)

into the

glass:

Transformersn

the

Skies.

Fabre's

nterest

in

working

with

insects,

which

from

the

very

beginning

and

in

many

ways

has

informed

his

creative

activity,

can

be

traced

back to

his

study

of

the

research done

by

his

grandfather,

renowned

entomologist

Jean-

Henri Fabre

(Hoet

and de Greef

1994:19,

48).

For

Fabre,

even

drawing

is asso-

ciated with

the

image

of

the

insect:

in

the

activity

of

etching

and

in

the

idea

of

metamorphosis.

His

works in

the

visual

arts

arise

from

the

cutting

of

tracks

into a

surface: the

endless

scribbling

of

the

Bic

ballpoint

pen

on

cloth and

pa-

per.

In

Changing

Leaves,

a

series

in

which he

mounts

insects on

Bic-blue

paper,

a

reversible

encounter

occurs-the

insect as

paper,

the

paper

as insect

(Hoet

and de

Greef

I994:4I).

The

idea

of

etching

in

space

also

dominates

Fabre's

choreography.

The

etching

cuts the

physical

form,

the

unity

of

the

figure,

in

two.

The

insect,

as

the

figure

of

the

divided,

segmented

form,

replaces

the

individual

as a

figure

of

indivisible

unity

of form. In

Fabre's

ballet

works

De

danssecties

The

Dance

Sections,

1987)

and

The

Sound

of

One

Hand

Clapping

(I990,

a collaboration with

Forsythe),

the

figures

of the dancers-some of

them in

armor,

appearing

like

shining

insects-cuts

through

the

space

in

ex-

tremely

slowed

down,

extremely

precise

movements

and

poses.

Fabre calls

these

performers

of

intersection

warriorsof

beauty :

The

warriors

of

beauty

are

insect,

actors and

dancers.

We are

all social

insects

(Hoet

and de

Greef

I994:13).

In

the

theatre,

the

work

of

choreographing

on

the

insect

body

of

incision in

the end is

directed

toward

the

zone

between

the

sharp

edges

of

the

outline,

which-like

the

contingent

movement of

the

scribbling

of

blue sur-

faces-no

longer

derives

from

the

workings

of

the

rational

codes of

ballet.

As

in

the

drawings,

which

he

makes

aggressive

through

rips

(51),

Fabre

also

seeks to

rip open

the

space

with the

staging

of

movement:

as a

tear in

the

fissure in which the space between the dancersbegins to dance (II7).

Such

reflection

of

the

self-mirroring

open

space

points

to

the

choreographic

search

for

the

bottom

of

the

bottom-the

miseen

abyme2?

of

the

dance-which

Forsythe

again

and

again

stages

in

his

works,

literally,

in

the

destabilizing

of

the

foundation of

the

movement in

a

gaping

crack in

the

floor.


9/20

44


2. William

Forsythe's

Alien/A(c)tion. Ballet

Frankfurt,

993.

(Photo

?

Self

Meant to Govern

Dominik

Mentzos)

William

Forsythe's

Choreography

William

Forsythe's

works

reflect

always

anew

that

the

beginning

and the

end

of

the text

of

choreography

are not

representable.

The

gesture

of

pointing

toward this

nonrepresentability

is

imaginable,

however-as

performance.

At

the end

of

Alie/nA(c)tion,

he

curtain

rises and falls

four

times,

in

repetition

of

the

punning

word

game

that a

dancer/speaker

(the

choice of

languages

n

Forsythe's

choreography

releases

all conventional

patterns

of

ascription,

roles,

or

figures,

of

theatrical

presentation)

scans

along

with

the

rising

and

falling

of

the cloth black-box: Cut, Schnitt, Shit, Schnitzel... The end as a cut and

the

beginning

of

a

piece

as the

preview

of a

(technical)

rehearsal,

n

which

ev-

erything

has

already happened

and

been

repeated.

For

example,

Firstext,

the

first

part

of

Dreiteiligen

Ballettabend

A

Ballet

Evening

in Three

Parts,

1995),

whose title announces itself

as the first

text,

is dissimulated

in a

choreogra-

phy

without

a

beginning.

In

Forsythe's

words:

In

Slingerland spin

in all

directions

like

crazy.

Beginnings

are

dark

and there

is no end

in

sight.

No

fixed

points,

lines,

or

planes:

no

balance,

no

justice

(in

Horowitz

1989).

In his

choreography,

Forsythe

attempts

to

bring

to

performance

those ideas

about

text that

have

been

put

forth

in

the discourse

of

poststructuralism.

A

passage

from

Roland

Barthes's

S/Z,

about the

inconclusiveness,

the

multi-

vocality, the endless reinscription and translation of text, was printed in the

program

of

Forsythe's

ballet

Impressing

he

Czar

(1988):

In

fact,

the

meaning

of a

text can be

nothing

but the

plurality

of its

sys-

tems,

its

infinite

(circular)

transcribability :

ne

system

transcribes

an-

other,

but

reciprocally

as

well:

with

regard

to

the

text,

there

is no


10/20

Defigurative

Choreography

45

primary,

natural,

national,

mother critical

language:

from

the

outset,

as it is

created,

the text

is

multilingual;

there is no entrance

lan-

guage

or exit

language

for the

textual

dictionary,

since it is not

the

dictionary's

(closed)

definitional

power

that

the text

possesses,

but its

in-

finite

structure.

(Barthes1974:120)

The

entry

into

a

movement

text,

the

picking

up

and

rewriting

of

it as

cho-

reographic

process,

looks

different

in

Forsythe's

work

than

is

usual

in

ballet

re-

hearsals.

In

the

search for new

combinations and

positions

of

the dance

figures,

he

instructs

his

dancers

to

renounce

the

idea of

meaning :

You have

to

get

used to

simply babbling

these

words

and

developing

a

sense

of

being

confronted

with them

in the

middle of

the

sentence

(in

Fischer

i993:n.p.).2'

In

order to

show his

process,

to

penetrate

the

transversality

of

languages

(speech, writing,

step), Forsythe

relies on the

system

of

(verbal)

speech

in

nearly

all

his

stagework.

Reaching

for the

thesaurus s

part

of

the

choreographic

work. In

Artifact

1984)

Forsythe presents

a

lexicon

of

words and a

structure

scheme based on

a

syntax

that

was

developed

in

the

rehearsal

process

(see

R6mer

1993:27-46);

in

Eidos:

Telos

I995),

definitions

and

etymological

references

are

juxtaposed.

What

does the

term

figure

mean in

this

context?

In

the

representational

domain of

dance

movement,

primarily

two

meanings

of

the term

figure

are

involved. In

one,

figure

means

the

spatial

form

of

the

dancer,

that

is,

the

statue,

the

outline of

the

performing

body.

And in the

other,

the

term refers

to

specific

movement

unities.

Forsythe

speaks

of

the

fig-

ure as

operative

unity.

Ballet

presents

a

system

of

such

operative

unities as

smoothly

connected

figures.

Yet

even within

the

terminology

of

ballet,

the

term

figure

is

not

singularly

defined.

Since the

I7th

century,

figura

has

been

used in

social

dance

and

in

the

dance of

the

theatre

(ballet)

to

connote

specific

step

combinations

(danzefigurate)

s

well as

the

con-figuration

of

danc-

ers

ordered

according

to

a

specific

pattern.22

And

in

the

early

I8th

century,

Raoul-Auger

Feuillet

defined

figura

as

an

element

of

choreo-graphy

in

the

senses of

both

word

and

writing

in

his

system

of

dance

notation

for

ballet:

fig-

ure,

le

chemin

que

l'on

suit

en

dansant, 23

n

which

he

designates

le

chemin

as

line,

the

prewritten

line of

choreography

that

the

steps

follow- La

ligne

sur

laquelle

n

danse.

ean

Georges

Noverre

in

Lettres ur la

danse

([1760]

1966)

used

the

term in

the

sense of

tableau. So

the

idea of

the

figure

in

ballet

appears

o

waffle

indecisively

between

image

and

writing,

between

body

and

line,

statue

and

ornament.

Basically,

however,

the

following

holds:

In

classical

ballet,

the

logic

of

how

steps

and

turs are

combined,

the

rules that

connect

elements of

preparation,

pirouette,

and final

position

with

the

corresponding port

de

bras-

all

follow the

aesthetic

principle

of

the

(beautiful)

unbroken

line.

Choreography,

as

practiced

by

Forsythe,

considers

this

unity

of

figure

de-

ceptive,

the

unbroken

line

a

pretense.

Forsythe's

operations

of

de-

and

refiguration

do

not aim

for a

superficial

splitting

or

destruction

of

the

code.

Rather,

they

direct our

gaze

toward the

basic

disconnectedness,

toward the

gaps

in

the

unity

of

the

figure.

The

architect

Daniel

Libeskind,

with

whom

Forsythe

collaborates,

formulates

this as

follows:

What is

revealed

at

different

points

in

different

ways

is

the

gap

between

the

moments in

time.

The

parts

that

ensure that

something

continues

are

those

parts

that

cannot be

shown,

because

they

are

missing

(Libeskind

I989:I4).

Forsythe's

choreography

stages

the absence of these

connecting joints

in the

figure,

the

hairline

cracks

in the

line:

the

disappearance

of

the

copula.

He

starts with

a

classical

pose,

a

ballet

step

or

an

enchatnement,

isarticulates this

figure,

distances

or shifts

the

hinges

by

setting

each

line in

relation

to each

angle,

and

so

arrives at a

movement

series that

is

defigured

through

multiple

joint

locations,

which

does

not

look like

ballet

at

all :


11/20

46


But

we

began

with

a familiar ballet

position

because

we

always

orient

ourselves

to

it,

we can

always

use it as

point

of reference.

By

continually

approaching

such a

figure

differently,

plucking

it

apart

and

putting

it

back

together

in

different

sequences,

I

can

bring

forth a tremendous

vari-

ety

of

information with

very

little material.

(in

Fischer

1993)

The mortar between

figures disintegrates,

the elision of

transitioning parts,

the

extremely rapid

reversals

in

direction

and counterdirection

put synaptic

barbs into the

gliding,

into the

appearance

of seamless ballet

figures.

The ele-

ments are

inverted,

juxtaposed,

and

put

next to one another-often

in

pastings

and

clumpings

with indistinct

edges,

following

a

grammar

of discon-

tinuity:

figures

of

a

steptext

(the

title

of an

early Forsythe choreography)

whose seams

remain visible. It

is

those

moments of

congestion,

of harsh ar-

rangement,

of vibration

(the

gap-jumping

rhythm

almost too fast to

perceive)

in the

choreographic

line,

that

are so

extraordinary

about this

dance

piece.

The

dancers,

trained in the

system

of classical

ballet,

learn to work with it

in

such a

way

that

they

rewrite,

decompose,

and build

in,

deviate

from,

or en-

large interruptions

of the

interlacings

in

the

code,

each

in

his or her own

im-

provisatory experiment.

An

exchange

of

speaking

(of

the common

code)

and

spelling

(of

one's own

defigured alphabet)

takes

place:

The dancers learn

to

spell

back their own

language

(in

Fischer

1993).

Elsewhere,

Forsythe

stresses that the dancers

should create their own

personal

ballet

slang.

Amanda

Miller,

choreographer

and

long-term

collaborator

with

Forsythe,

speaks

in

this context of

doodling -scribbling

and

scrawling.

The

speaking

and

writing

of the movement text as a form of a

parole,

which-like scrawl-

ing

and

babbling-transform

the

langue

of the fixed ballet code. Thus the

dancers

develop

a

lexicon of

multiply

branched

transcriptions

of

single

ballet

figures

and their combination

possibilities.

This resultsin the

nearly exponen-

tial

growth

of movement

lexemes,

whose

collection,

selection,

and recombi-

nation-with all the

choreographic possibilities,

(de)figuring

with

catachrestic

and

metaleptic operations-can

now be stored

in

a

specially

developed

CD-

ROM

program,

from which dancers and

choreographers

can draw. In

works

like

Self

Meant to Govern

(1994)

or

Eidos:Telos

(I995)

and

Dreiteiliger

Ballettabend

1995),

the

choreographic patterns

are

based on these

defigurative

operations:

[I]n

other

words,

positions suggest

movements within an

associative

chain or

organization,

which is

based

on

where the limbs

are

placed

in

relation to each other. Your

kinesphere

functions as a

memory-say,

for

example,

your

hands are near

your

knee,

and

you

remember that

that is

where the movement

sequence

A

begins

or ends. You

then

perform

A

no

longer

in

its

original

orientation,

as it is

prescribed

in

the move-

ment

vocabulary.

This

unoriginal

orientation

puts your

body

into

yet

an-

other

orientation,

accessing

some other

sequence

of

movements;

but

you

keep trying

to

re-adjust yourself

back and

forth between

states of dis-

and

re-orientation.

(Forsythe

1995:39)

The movement of

an

oscillating

dis- and

re-orientation

organizes

the

structure

as a

constantly

reversible

process.

The

pro-

and

retrogression

of

memory-the remembering of the order in the movement sequence, the me-

moria of the

passing

of time and

space-become

the

generators

of a

vocabulary

that

appears

like

an

alternating

current.

Reversals of

direction,

metaleptic

exchanges

complicate nearly every

motion of the

dancers. It is this effect

that

not

infrequently

awakens

in

the

spectator

the

impression

that a

figure

or

line is

growing

out of

the

impulse

of

both

an

inward

and

outward

mobilization.


12/20

DefigurativeChoreography

47

Up

to

now

we have

been

discussing figure primarily

as a movement

sign

in the

choreography

and its

defiguration

in

the

transcription

process

of

Forsythe's

work. But what has been said also

applies

in

a

comparable way

to

the

figure

of

the

body:

the

dancers'

spatial

form,

the

figura

of

their out-

line,

and

the

configurative

form

of

their movement

relationships

fall under the

transformation

processes

of the code

as

well.

In

subverting

the art

figure

of

their ballet bodies-molded into instruments of

presentation

through

labori-

ous

procedures

of

inscription-the

dancers

become transformers of them-

selves.

A

dissolving

of

the outlines

of

and connections between the

parts

of

the

body

occurs

through

the continual isolation of

single

parts

and

their

con-

ventional

coordination.

Screwings,

twistings,

and

multiple

initiation centers

of

movement

impulses

allow the bodies to

appear

as

polymorphous figures.

Their

fragmentation

imparts upon

the viewer the

impression,

as critic Edith

Boxberger

writes,

that

the elements of the movement deform into a

mean-

dering

flow

of

contortions and intertwined

convolutions,

which

frays

n

all di-

rections at once and

spreads

out amoebalike

[...],

an

oscillating

construction,

fickle

and

fragile,

full of unrest

(I994:32).

The

unity

of

figure,

even

as

operative unity,

is not

given. Despite

the

implication

of

the title

Self

Meant

to

Govern,

n

Forsythe's

choreography

a cen-

ter of

operation

that

governs

the

movement cannot be discerned: it

is

grounded

in

the loss

of

linking

elements that are

still

capable

of

demarcating

the

identity

of the

figure

as a

representational unity.

Meme,

as a

particle

that

signifies

an identite

absolue,

is

also

displaced

in

Forsythe's

text work:

In

the

verbal

paradigm

that forms the

choreographic

matrix of

Artifact,

THE

SAME stands

isolated-in the middle

yet

pushed

to the

edge,

as

a term in

the function of

a shifter:

'THE

SAME' as

stage

direction,

'THE

SAME'

as

infinite principle, 'THE SAME' as the eternally repeating, the indistinguish-

able,

the end of

the

exceptional

and the

unique

(R6mer

I993:36).

The

arti-

fact,

whose

working

contours are ever

dissolving

in

the dance.

The

same occurs

with

the

vocabulary

of

the dance.

A

figure

that could to

such

an

extent

be read as a concrete

unity

would

be a ballet

position,

for ex-

3.

Despite

he

implication

of

the titleSelf

Meant

to

Govern,

in

Forsythe's

ho-

reography

center

f opera-

tion that

governs

he

movementannot e dis-

cerned;

t is

grounded

n the

loss

of linking

lements

hat

are

capable f

demarcating

the

identity

f

thefigure

s

a

representational

nity.

Bal-

let

Frankfurt,

1994.

(Photo

?

Dominik

Mentzos)


13/20

48

Gabriele

Brandstetter

ample,

or

a

pose

like the

arabesque-with

the extension

of the

supporting

leg

and

the

stretch,

back

and

up

high,

of the free

leg-a fragile

structure

sus-

pended

in

gravitational

and

antigravitational

countertension,

whose

immanent

sustaining

dynamic

lies in

the

play

of balance. The

place

of

the self that

gov-

erns

the

figure

is the center

of

gravity,

as the center

of the distribution

of

the

lines

of

strength.

It is in this

area of construction

and control

of the

movement

figure

that

Forsythe's

work

begins-namely

by

turning

to Rudolf

von

Laban's

Choreutik,

his

theory

of the relation

between

body,

movement,

and

space:

I am in

the

process

of

approaching

movement

in a

completely

new

way,

in which

I

am

thinking

about

inner

crystalline

structures.

According

to

traditional

opinion,

movement

in ballet moves

from the center

of

the

body

out

into

a

hypothetical space.

But

I

presuppose

an

internal,

crystal

geometry

that occurs

naturally

n the

body,

which

in turn influences

the

movement

in the

space.

(in

Fischer

1993)

Here

Forsythe

follows

ideas

developed

in

the

I92os

by

the

expressionist

dancer

and dance theoretician

Rudolf

von

Laban,

who

systematically

researched

the

body

and its

relationship

o the

immediate

environment

(kinesphere)

and

thereby

discovered

the

regular

crystals

of both

the

dodecahedron and

foremost

the

icosa-

hedron to

be

those

stereometrical

figures

that

could be

used as

models for

the

plateaus

and

angular

relations

of

movement

(Laban 1991).

The

crystalline

struc-

ture

of the icosahedron

enables

a

multilateral

description

of

body

movement

in

the

environment

of the

kinesphere,

which

takes

several

perspectives

nto

account

simultaneously.

Yet

the lines

and

planes

of

movement

direction

thus

described

and the

swings

articulated

by

the

body

and

carried

out

according

to

these

di-

rections all

emanate from one

center,

a

midpoint

between

the

spatial

orientation

and the movement coordination.This is where

Forsythe's

choreographic

analyses

begin.

What

happens,

he

asks,

when

multiple

axes,

planes,

and

points

of

the

kinesphere

are

activated

and

become

the

initiating

point

of

movement?

When

every

point

of the

kinespheric

figure

of

the

body

can

become

the

center

of

movement,

a

network

of

interferingsystems

develops.

No

longer

does

one

single

center

of

gravity

govern

the

movement

figure,

as

is the

case in

classical

ballet.

Rather,

a

multicentric

agglomerate

of

points

distributed

over

the

body

initiates

and

conducts the

motions in

the

space.

For

example,

the solo

in

In

the

Middle,

Somewhat

levated

plays

with

this

figure

of

the

center-of

the

one

point

of

gravity

and its

control-with

the

topos

in

ballet's

hierarchy

hat

celebrates he

prima

bal-

lerina

as

etoile

n

this

elevated

position.

In

Forsythe's

choreography

the

soloist

defigures

this

topos;

she falls, so to

speak,

out of the discursive

space.

She dis-

mantles

the

pose,

for

example,

by

gliding

out of a

balanced

arabesque,

extending

the

figure

to

its

tipping

point,

and

then

slipping

into an

extremely

rapid pirou-

ette-as

with

falling,

passing

over

the

conventional

preparation

and

instead

mo-

bilizing

the

port

de bras

from

the

shoulder,

in

an

isolated

spasmodic

outstretched

movement,

followed

by

a

head

movement

of

the

epaulement,

f

a

torsion of

the

torso in

the

opposite

direction,

while

teetering

on

her

point

shoe.

The

synchronization

of

such

defigurations

of

the

ballet

vocabulary

in

the

course of

a

sequence

no

longer

welds

unities

together.

This

choreography

is

simultaneously

its own

metachoreography,

in

the

analysis

of

movement

and

space

of

the

given

matrix.

The

figures

generated

in

this

way

during

the

course

of transformationbecome similar to one another, they take on the visual

qual-

ity

of

fractals:

Fractal

geometries [...]

are

the

images

of the

way

things

fold

and

unfold,

feeding

back

into

each

other

and

themselves

(Forsythe

1995).

In

terms

of

the

relation

of

figure

and

space,

the

patterns

of such

choreography

reveal a

similarity

with

the

designs

that

are

known as

parquet

deformations

(Hofstadter

I985:I95-2I8):

gradually

developing

transformations of

divisions


14/20

Defigurative

Choreography

49

of the

plane,

or

tessellations, which,

through

the

lengthening

or

rotating

of

a

line or

through

the

introduction of

a

hinge,

result

in a

complete

distortion

or

regrouping-like

a

type

of

ornamental

morphing.

In

Forsythe's

choreography

the

complexity

of the

spatial figures

and

their

interferences is of course much

greater:

Our

gaze

would

be confronted

with a

space

filled with

a

dense

concen-

tration of

angularity,

complex

circularity,

symmetry, laterality,

sphericality, contraposition, convexity,

concavity,

rectilinearity,

and

dis-

tortion

[...;]

the

extraordinaryproliferation

and

perfect

disorder of

these

marks

may

bring

to

mind the

appearance

of a

page

covered

with

incom-

prehensible

glyphs. (Forsythe

and

Levine

1987)

In

the

polyphony

of

the

figures

in

space,

the

line or the

definable network

of

movement

signs

falls

apart.

Their

linking

is

disturbed,

the

stability

of

the

figure-as

body

and as

movement

sequence-begins

to

wobble.

With

each

step

a fall is

implied.

LaurieAnderson describes

walking

as

falling:

You

walk...and

you

don't

always

notice

it,

but

you're

constantly

falling.

With

every

step...you

fall. You

fall forward a

little

bit

and

you

catch

yourself.

You

keep falling

and

catching yourself.

And in this

way you

walk

and fall at the

same

time.

(Anderson

1989:13)

Every

step

is a

falling.

The

choreography

inscribes

the

fall,

not in

an

obvious

falling

into

one

another of the

dancers,

as

in

the movement

theatre of

the Ca-

nadian

group

Lalala

Human

Steps,

but in

one

of the

patterns

that derive

from

the

basic structure: in

the

exploration

of

the

borderline

between

stability

and

fragility,

between centeredness and decenteredness. At this

point

of

equilib-

rium,

which

is

displaced

with

every

step,

the

conditions of

the

presentation

of

figure -as

a

mode of

choreographic

representation-are

put

in

question.

Marcel

Duchamp

was aware of

this in

the

Large

Glass.

The

exposition

of

the

eros'

matrix

(matrice

'e'ros)

n La

Marie'e

mise

a

nu

par

ses

celibataires,

meme

acts

as

a

critique

of

the

myth

of

Eros

and at the

same time marks

its

never

definitive

affirmation.

A

delay

in

glass,

in

terms of

equilibrium.

Or

in

Duchamp's

words:

Et-qui-libre?

Equilibre

(in

Paz

I978:72).

Forsythe's

choreography exposes

disequilibrium.

The

copula's

falling

out of

the

order of

the

figures

conceals

and

reveals

the fall

out of

the

center of

grav-

ity-a

constant

subversion

of

the

balance

structure

that

creates

the

illusion of

elevation and stable geometry in classical ballet. The movement

pattern

in

Forsythe's

choreography

consists

of

ellipses.

In

the

network

of

the

slipping,

destabilizing

centers of

gravity

that

are

thrown all

over

the

figure

and-in

myriad

points

of

interference-into

the

space,

there nest

gaps,

holes,

tears.

Here

Forsythe

follows

the

concept

of

a

postmodern

architecture that

stages

Sturz und

Rif

[collapse

and

tear]:

subversive

structures

that

display

the

mo-

ments in

which their

stasis s

threatened

(Jonak

1989:7).

The

outline of

Forsythe's

choreographic

structures

articulates

a

similar

ar-

chitecture

of

imbalance. In

his

analysis

of

Daniel

Libeskind's

works,

Forsythe

comes to

comparable

conclusions;

when the

underlying

model

and its

con-

ventionalized

axioms

are

corrupted,

hybridized,

the

structures

proliferate:

The rational, orderly grid actually turns out to be made up of a series of

decentered

paces

1989:19).

The

process

of

defiguration

therefore also

relates

to the

total

structure of a

piece -whatever

is

to

be

signified

with

this

formula of

the

performance

of a

movement

representation

of a

certain

duration in

a

certain

place.

A

ballet

work

with a

beginning

and an

end

and a

dramaturgy

of

repeatable

figures

and


15/20

50


climaxes

can no

longer

be

described.

So there

is no

figura

of

representation

in the

sense of a

figural

routine of

expectable

structures

that are fulfilled

ac-

cording

to the

logic

of the code.

Instead,

each

performance

realizes

a

different

possibility

for the

presentation

of the

figures-the body

and the movement

fig-

ures. Each

repetition

shows another

surface of the

text;

each

reading refigures

a new variantof how the

figures

can be linked. In the structure

of the

pieces,

choreographic,

precisely

established

parts

alternate

with

gaps,

which

the

danc-

ers

fill anew in each

performance

(for

which

a

time

indicator behind

the

stage

serves in

guiding

the orientation

in

space

and the

temporal coordination).

Some

of these

choreographies

seem to consist

exclusively

of such

gaps,

in

whose intervals

the actual

sentences are

inscribed, as,

for

example,

in

Self

Meant to

Govern,

whose matrix

is

organized

in

such a

way

that

each of

the

dancers

has to

manage

her own

parcours.

nd so

she has

various

structural

pos-

sibilities

to consider:

there are clocks

onstage,

whose

hands

point

toward

letters

instead of

numbers. Each

letter denotes a

movement

sequence

that

consists of

figures,

which are collected

in a lexicon

that was

compiled

specifically

for

this

choreography.

For the dancers

onstage,

a certain movement

(which

can be

chosen

out of her own

ballet-slang )

is

suggested

by

the letter

that is

indi-

cated. In

this

way,

the

performers

transform

he

figures

and their

interlacings.

Comparable

processes-simultaneous

and

postponed

within

the

grid

of

these

movement

figures

that are

coming

into contact

with one

another-concern the

complete

score

of the

staging:

sound,

light,

projections

of

pictures,

objects

in

constant

coordination

and

isolation. But

I'll

leave

this

aspect

for

another

time.

Finally,

considered in

the

sense of

perceptual

unity,

figura

disintegrates

even

in the

spectators'

perception.

In

the

growing

entropy

of

the

choreo-

graphic

textual

weave

there no

longer

are

any

fixed

spectatorial

vantage

points.

Even the

spectator

falls out of the

balance of his or

her

position:

But

recent

spatial

transformationhas

brought

about an unforeseen

difficulty:

it is

no

longer

possible

to see the

entire text from

one

position.

It

seems

that the

characters

suspended

in

the

foreground

obstruct

our view of

the

characters o-

cated

behind them

(Forsythe

and

Levine

1989).

The

stability

of the

observation-from what

Fabre

calls the

king's

perspec-

tive

in

theatre-is

subverted:

a disturbed

equilibrium

of

seeing.

Forsythe

stages

and

thematizes the

physiological

perception

phenomenon

of

parallax

(also

the

title of a

1989

ballet):

an

apparent

substitution

or

change

in

the direc-

tion of

the

observed

object,

which

seems to

shift

between the

angles

of

sight

lines. The

spectator

is-in

the

network

of the

signs

and

figures

of

the text-

constantly

confronted with

parallactic

displacement.

Furthermore,

in

the

third

part of Alie/nA(c)tion, a translation of this

perceptual phenomenon

is

staged,

which is

known

as

figural

after-effect : the

alteration

of

the

figural

or

spatial

attributes

of

figures

(their

apparent

slipping

or

tipping

to the

opposite side),

after a

specific

figure

has

for

a while

been fixed

in

the same

region

of

the

vi-

sual

field.

Forsythe

plays

with

such

perceptual phenomena:

The

sentence Ev-

erything

is all

right,

spoken

by

a

black

dancer,

gradually

spills

into a

narration

of

catastrophes,

while

the

group

of

dancers

synchronously

translates

he

word

right

spatially by

dancing

on

the

right

side.

That it is a

black

dancer is

significant,

since

Forsythe

is

choreographically

critiquing

the

polarization

of

the

political

left

and

right

as

well

as those

who

claim

to know

what

should

and

shouldn't be

considered

politically

correct.

The

spectator

is

faced with

the question: Who stands or moves on the right side of which text? The

words

displace

the

figures,

and the

figures

the

words. In

Of

Any

If

And,

the

third

part

of

Gemischter

allettabend

Mixed

Ballet

Evening,

I995),

two

speak-

ers sit

at

the

back of

the

stage,

incessantly

and

nearly

inaudibly

whispering

a

text,

while at

the front of

the

stage

a

couple

of

dancers

repeatedly

begin

and

break

off

movements in

an

attempt

to

con-figure

themselves.

Out of the


16/20

DefigurativeChoreography

5

I

4.

William

Forsythe's

n

the

Middle,

Somewhat

Elevated in

1992:

Afigure

hat could o suchan

extentbe read

as a concrete

nity

would be a ballet

position,

or example,

or a

pose

like the

arabesque

...,]

afragile

structure

us-

pended

n

gravitational

nd

antigravitational

ountertension,

hose mmanent

ustaining

dynamic

ies in the

play of

balance.

(Photo

? Dominik

Mentzos)


17/20

52

Gabriele Brandstetter

flies,

staggered

tiers

of

blackboards

descend at

specific

intervals,

on which are

written

single,

disconnected

words

separated

by

spaces-elements

of a uni-

versal

writing

(Forsythe

1989:14)

whose rules

of

syntax

seem to be lost: a

spatial

etter-box,

which

keeps pushing

in front

of the

figures

of the

dancers;

a

chiasmus24

f

speech,

movement,

and

writing

elements.

Forsythe

continually

works with various rhetorical and

poetic processes

within the text. For Im-

pressing

he

Czar,

he included

one of Oscar Pastior's

anagram poems

in

his

choreographic

textwork,

whose title

Misverstand derder

Wegweiser?

Misun-

derstanding

or the

Signpost?)

likewise marks theme and

anathema,

lexicon

and

material,

in

the context of

choreography.

The

gaps

in the text-its

blurred

zones-demand from the

reader of

this

text the

search for another

way

of

seeing.

Forsythe's

suggestion:

So,

in

order

not

to

miss

relationships

that

could

provide

the

key

to

understanding

this lan-

guage,

let

us move

into

the

text

(1988).

Thus

the

spectator

him-

or

herself

becomes a

figure

in the

choreographic

text,

no

more

integrated

than

the other

existing

text elements

left over

from the

process

of

transformation;

an

inter-

rupted process,

an act of

writing

with disturbancefactors, as is reflected in the

title of another

Forsythe

piece:

Enemy

in the

Figure

(1992).

-translated

by

Marta

Ulvaeus

Notes

I.

The

passatismo

f

ballet,

which was

judged

to be both

an

aesthetically

and

technically

decadent form of

theatrical

performance

movement, was,

in a

repeated

Querelle

des

anciennes

t desmoderes

the

aesthetic

quarrel

hat has

taken

place

in France

ince the Re-

naissanceover

the

question

of

which should take

precedence,

the ancient or

the mod-

em), a topos of new danceconcepts n the early20th century.See Brandstetter1995).

2.

Since

the era of

the Ballet

Russes under

Serge Diaghilev,

the aesthetic and

the

perfor-

mance

conventions of

ballet have

undergone

massive

change.

One of most

profound

of

these

was the

elimination

of

narrative.The

destruction

of the

traditional

dramaturgy

f

Igth-century

ballet is a

wound

that,

as

we can see in

current

civic

theatre

produc-

tions,

is

still

healing.

3.

Hawthorne

interprets

he

phenomenon

of the

Transformer n

light

of

cultural

and

me-

dia/technological

change

and

the

associated

political

implications

as a

sign

of

the irre-

vocable

penetration

of

cybernetic

into

popular

culture and

as

a

signal

of

the

militarization f childhood

(1989:2).

4.

In

Forsythe's

choreography

Artifact,

he

following

lines are

repeated

uninterrupted

as

a

monotonous

poem

of

no

longer

knowing: they

will

never remember

where/

they

al-

waysforgotwhich/ they never rememberhow/ they alwaysforgotwhere [...].

5.

The

giving up

of

the idea of a

completable

work

leads to

another

concept

of

the art-

ist,

still

within

the romantic

dichotomy

of art and

life. See

Dieter Daniels

(1992:82)

and

Thierry

de Duve

(1989).

6.

Marcel

Duchamp:

Painting

s

the

critique

of

movement,

but

movement is

the

critique

of

painting

(in

Paz

1978:2).

7.

In

his

above

cited

analysis,

Octavio Paz

comments

that the

translationof

mise a nu as

denuded or

unclothed

falls short:

[I]t

is a

much

more

energetic

expression-

stripped

bare,

exposed.

It is

impossible

not to

associate

t

with a

public

act or

a ritual-

the

theatre

(mise

en

scene)

or

an

execution

(mise

a

mort)

(I978:32).

8.

Here

I

am

using

the title

with

the

ellipses,

which are

sometimes

ncluded,

other

times not.

9.

Meesme

and

medisme,

meisme

IIth

century)

comes

from

metipsimus

from

the Latin

metipsethe same],which followed the model of superlativesike maximus,minimus.

Io.

This

homophony (meme/m'aime)

as been

suggested

as the

interpretation

of

the

title,

but

while

Duchamp disputed

this,

he

also

played

with

it

(Paz

I978:33).

I

.

Duchamp

said in

an

interview

that

meme reminded

him of

the famous

double

mono-

syllable

of

Bosse-de-Nage,

Dr.

Faustroll's

monkey:

Ha-Ha

(Paz

I978:33).

12.

After

the first exhibition

of

the

Large

Glass

(New

York,

1926),

Duchamp

issued the

notes he

made as he was

creating

the

work,

which

were

reproduced

as exact

facsimiles.


18/20

Defigurative

Choreography

53

The GreenBox

appeared

n

I934

under the same

(meme)

title

as the

Large

Glass:

The

Bride

Stripped

are

by

Her

Bachelors,

ven. See Daniels

(I992:I02 ff).

13.

Later,

Duchamp produced

La

Botte-en-Valise

I935-I94I),

a

numbered series of

what

he called

portable

museums :cardboardboxes with

miniature

replicas, photographs,

and color

reproductions

of

single pictures, Readymades,

and the

Large

Glass.

I4.

In reference to this effect of the LargeGlass, Duchamp noted in the White Box (A

l'infinitif):

i.

Show case with

sliding glass

panes-place somefragile objects

inside.

-

Inconvenience-narrowness-reduction of a

space,

i.e.

way

of

being

able to

experi-

ment in

3

dim.

as one

operates

on

planes

in

plane

geometry.

And

further:

No

obstinacy,

ad

absurdum,

f

hiding

the

coition

through

a

glass pane

with one

or

many

objects

of the

shop

window

(in

Sanouillet

and

Peterson

I973:74).

IS.

For

Cunningham's

choreographic

concept

of

space/time

as

inbetween

space,

see

Brandstetter

1991).

I6.

How

to

Pass, Kick, Fall,

and Run

(1965)

is another

example

of

Cunningham's

choreo-

graphing

of

everyday

movement as

Documents

Defigurative Choreography: Duchamp & Forsythe