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CHOREOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

KO9

EXTREME STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

DANCE

The theme of dance and extreme states of consciousness has been my main field of research since 2019. There are multiple works that I have developed over the years, and they are still evolving. I will continue with this work as I still feel deeply connected to it, and I am wondering what different forms of sharing it with the public the future will bring.

Latest form of sharing is a performans on KO9, it was an act of collective sewing that happened on the last day of KO9 in June 2024.

This was the final participatory action of the choreographic research KO9 initiated by the Nomad Dance Academy.

Collective support for the individual experiencing extreme states of consciousness, sewing pieces together into an integrated unit, creating conditions for the individual to have time to reconnect with oneself and the community.

below is the video filmed by Gaja Madžarevič

More about K09 you can read in the following text:

KO9 / Choreographic Turn #9

Since 2020, Nomad Dance Academy Slovenia has been hosting and co-creating Choreographic Turn with invited creators. This initiative, through various formats of collaboration, allows a group of people more time and space than usual to dedicate themselves to the creative processes in contemporary dance practices. As Jaka Bombač wrote, "Choreographic Turn is an experimental studio for testing new forms of communication, collaboration, and creation." This time, the format of Choreographic Turn is turning together.

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Instead of full-length performances, which have become the norm in contemporary dance production since the early 1970s, Choreographic Turn is a form of presenting short choreographic and other contemporary dance formats that take place in a single evening. Its function is to expand the spectrum of choreographic forms, aesthetics, and practices that exist alongside each other and can mutually enrich one another. It allows choreographers to test ideas and concepts before an audience without risks, harmful consequences, or public pressure. It ensures various formats for possible reflections, generates a language of reflection (new forms of theorizing choreographic practices), and informs the public in various ways about dance work in all its possible temporalities.

The "turn" in the name signifies a shift in length, collage presentations, and format that combines artistic, curatorial, theoretical-historical, and educational dance practices. At the same time, the turn is also a production organization that enables compositional, constructive, performative, and discursive forms of dance to meet, ensuring that our various activities have a space for presentation, legitimacy, and can be viewed in their differences in one place.

Choreographic Turn strives to introduce fluidity of functions among its producers: producers, curators, and artists change their creative and production roles from event to event. Each curatorial set of Choreographic Turn will be numbered and documented. Its program units (individual works presented within a specific Choreographic Turn) can develop and appear in the next development phase at the next Choreographic Turn, and they can also evolve into full-length performances if they show potential. They can be placed in gallery spaces (multiple units simultaneously) or theatrical settings (with different spatial orientations between the audience and the stage).

KO8

The start of this choreographic research took place in December 2023, through the project KO8

(Koreografski Obrat 8) initiated by Nomad Dance Academy.

About our work, you can read the following

dialogic text

that was written by Jaka Bombač in Nika Arhar.

MORE ABOUT THE THEME AND EXPLORATION I AM DESCRIBING IN THE FOLLOWING TEXT:

In 2024, I am developing a practice of contemporary dance as a form of self-healing in mental health. I am exploring this theme due to my own experience of what Western medicine calls "psychosis," which I experienced acutely in the years 2017/19. I have found that movement exercises, artistic dance projects, and performance aid in my recovery and in establishing stability of body and mind in daily life. I have been researching self-healing movement processes for several years and have also presented them to the public in various projects. The methods I have developed are helpful to me, and I would like to deepen them and share them with others who experience similar conditions.

I am researching movement tools that help maintain contact with objective reality and enable a connection with one's body, thereby preventively influencing individuals from delving into their unconscious contents or those contents that form the basis of thought cycles and the development of psychotic states, as well as other mental disorders. By "objective reality," I mean the reality we experience before subjective interpretations, our bodily relationship to materiality in the environment - textures, colors, shapes, etc.

With contemporary dance practices of "embodiment," we train this contact with various tools. Among other things, embodiment practices also include increasingly recognized mindfulness methods, which have been proven to improve individual mental health.

Throughout the research, I will delve into understanding extreme states of consciousness and explore somatic movement methods of self-healing that alleviate daily life for individuals in mental distress.

*What Western medicine calls "mental illness," in mental health support groups, is described as "extreme states of consciousness" to better emphasize the integrity and diversity of human experiences, and to avoid limiting and often stigmatizing medical classifications.

From my experiences working on numerous projects, I have noticed a lack of focus on the work with attention, specifically the lack of attention to thought processes that lead to a scattered mind. My personal experiences have shown me how thought distraction can play a crucial role in the development of mental disorders and how important the connection between mind and body is. By intertwining contemporary dance practices with mental health, I aim to address this gap.

At the forefront I am collaborating with the Hearing Voices Network ( Slišanje glasov), which invited me to mentor a dance performance. The rehearsals for performance are developed as a means of self-healing and collective support for people facing extreme states of consciousness. During weekly meetings, together with members of the network, we are developing and implementing embodiment practices that serve as a platform for expressing personal experiences through dance. Such work enables not only my expression and healing but also strengthens mutual support and community, which is especially important in managing the development of psychotic disorders and preventing social isolation.

Photo: Nina Pernat