The H2020 COESO (Collaborative Engagement on Societal Issues) Project’s goal is to develop and sustain citizen science projects in the social sciences and the humanities. It’s composed of several pilot studies. Here we are interested in Pilot 2: “Dancing Philosophy”, authored by Cosetta Graffione (dancer-choreographer) and Stefania Ferrando (philosopher). The study looks to explore “new ways of knowing through words and dance”.
Dancing Philosophy – Les Mots from Cosetta Graffione, Stefania Ferrando, Clarisse Bardiot, Sébastien Hildebrand, Irénée Blin and Daniele Marranca on MemoRekall.
This project which merged philosophical concepts and bodies in movement, as well as a documentation of this collaboration via Laban scores and MemoRekall capsules, took place across six workshops in France and Italy from 2021 to 2022. It included times of reflection, experimentation and public performances as well as workshops with students from dance schools, students and amateurs. This capsule considers the workshop that took place in Bologna (Italy) in April 2022. The capsule shows two improvised solos. On its own, this recording would be difficult to understand for those that don’t know the project. This capsule comes to complete the video document with a set of varied annotations that allow you to consider what is being seen from different perspectives.
Links lead to philosophical concepts upon which these improvised solos are based; towards accounts from the choreographer and the philosopher; towards Laban scores which allow you to understand certain sequences of movements. We are also sent to videos that concern either the project as a whole or public performances, as well as documents on the creative process (photographs, hand-written sketches). This capsule offers avenues of thought for a diverse audience: from those unfamiliar with contemporary dance who wish to satisfy their curiosity to practitioners and thinkers who wish to gain a deep understanding of this creative process.