Traversal


Sometimes, it's better not to grow up, but to grow sideways.

Having in my past been a bit of a rock-climber, I would define a "traverse" as part of a pitch on a climb where predominantly the movement is sideways, not upwards. Superficially this might be seen as somehow suspending momentum, and denying progress ... and growth. However, I don't get this point of view as the traversing I've done has been some of the most challenging, difficult, scariest, and downright funniest climbs I've been involved in. But then let's broaden this out ... economically, key indicators are about growth and moving the markets forwards, but what if a more sustainable route is to go sideways towards a diversification ? The same seems utterly feasible in most other forms of practice : the act of taking stock, of accepting current positions, and embracing outside influence without the necessity to endlessly grow and boost the discipline for the sake of any one school of thought, or its codifications.

The scariest bit of climbing I ever did - the one that always sticks in my mind - was a traverse. It was a real moment of "vertical zen", only horizontal : a huge challenge, and one that left me in a cold sweat, a with a massive sense of achievement ... and it was only 5cm from the floor. Somehow I managed to scare the sh*t out of myself whilst being safer than if I was in a warm bath. My belief is that creative practice can be somehow similar : by embracing the nowness of our present practice and branching-out sideways instead of always striving upwards we can grow, and in ways unexpected to both the observer and the inner-narrative self-observer : I'm now a visual artist with a couple of solo gallery shows under my belt and a reasonable set of international screenings of my work in the fields of screen-dance and performance for camera - something I couldn't have predicted from my background as a conventional gigging musician ...

This is kinda what I'm getting at with looking at traversal : how we grow through moving sideways.



What I'm aiming at by setting-about this series of 60-ish-second video-dance pieces is to understand a bit better where my friends within the world of "dance" and "performance-for-camera" are "at" - I'm inviting practitioners I know to simply show me a movement-phrase : it might be easy, it might be difficult, it might be ground-based, or arial, or anywhere inbetween, but it has to be something they're at-home with, and somehow simultaneously learning from - a way to cross space that can be captured several times over in order to be made into a short video-work to be presented as part of a whole.

I've no idea how far I'll get with this idea, or how many people will step-in (or step-up) to the challenge, but be warned : if you fit into the afore-mentioned category, and we're scheduled to bump into each other in the coming year or so ... and I've got a camera on me ...

let's traverse ...


Traversal #1 : Vagia Kapousidou
music : Andy Penny
shot at Enter-Pilates Studio, Thessaolniki, Greece.



Traversal #2 : Dhimas Aryo Satwiko
music : Andy Penny
shot at SOZO Visions in Motion School of Dance, Kassel, Germany.



Traversal #3 : Julia Metzger-Traber
music : Andy Penny
shot at the workers' kitchen, Potomac Vegetable Farm, Purcelville, Virginia, USA.



Traversal #4 : Moreno Perna
music : Andy Penny
shot at Museum of City & Territory, Cori-Alto, Latina, Italy.



Traversal #5 : Riccardo Guratti
music : Andy Penny
shot at Museum of City & Territory, Cori-Alto, Latina, Italy.



Traversal #6 : Fenia Kotsopoulou
music : Andy Penny
shot in the garden of the Museum of City & Territory, Cori-Alto, Latina, Italy.



Traversal #7 : Kirsty Lee Russell
music : Andy Penny
shot in a corridoor at the University of Lincoln.



Traversal #8 : Lena Sass Hughes
music : Andy Penny
shot at Lena's new Home.



Traversal #9 : Alexandra Kostopoulou
music : Andy Penny
shot at Dasos Syggrou Park, Athens, Greece



Traversal #10 : Andrea Pagnes
music : Andy Penny
shot at Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy



Traversal #11 : Deborah Smith Wicke
music : Andy Penny
shot at SOZO Visions in Motion School of Dance, Kassel, Germany.



Traversal #12 : Julia Arsen
music : Andy Penny
shot at SOZO Visions in Motion School of Dance, Kassel, Germany.



© 2018-19 Daz Disley