Dr. Julia Wehren
The project examines the correlation between the choreographic and the social on the basis of artistic works in and with ‚landscape‘. The current European dance scene shows a pronounced interest in interventions in public space, which often combine social and ecological themes and concerns with participatory formats in ‚nature‘. The initial thesis of the project is that fundamental and lasting shifts in aesthetics can be identified from the spatial and social rewriting of the reality of life (especially during the pandemic). This is particularly virulent in the form of site-specific works, audio walks, parcours or walking formats, which are often process-based and procedural and/or guided by scores. They are geared towards the participation of both the audience and the respective local/situational environment and population. In doing so, they look for ways to sharpen and simultaneously rewrite the perception of ‚landscape‘ – understood as both a physical and processual space – as well as the urban environment. In this way, they negotiate the specific social, spatial, sociological and political requirements of living together. The project summarizes them under the term landscape choreographies, with the aim of focusing on a specific form of social choreographies and also reflecting on changes in the aesthetic orientation of the European dance scene that have arisen or intensified due to social and structural shifts during the pandemic.
