Scene
~ Consequences of Research
Sometimes, during the research, there is a wish to give in to what occurs. By framing it, it takes on the form of a ritual, a happening, a performance. At times, these eventualities have an audience, at other times they don’t. They are repeated or they happen only once.
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE BODY
Opening up intellectual and artistic research to public sharing is one of the ways of thinking about the scene that minìsae cherishes the most. What is presented, is not a finished form but rather an opening to a research that continues and becomes richer through the praxis of encounter. Conversations with the Body is a series of performative encounters and debates with researchers who place the phenomena of body and movement at the center of their work.
(1) Gilad Ben Ari, March 8, 2023
How do we answer the questions asked by our bodies? What role do we entrust to the sensitive and embodied experience? How can the body become the main vehicle of an artistic and a human journey? In Ben Ari's practice, the experience of the living body, usually neglected by most or even forgotten, is the very essence of the research: the "animal" dimension of the human, the primal adherence to the senses and perceptions, to the movement that emerges spontaneously, are all that he asks us to pay attention to, all that really exists. How much effort, how much time, how much listening can we offer to our bodies that are none other than us?
Gilad Ben Ari is a performer and dancer. For more than twenty years he has been dancing professionally, first in Tel Aviv in the Batsheva Ensemble, then in Brussels where he studied dance and choreography at P.A.R.T.S. and finally in Amsterdam, where he received a Master's degree at Das Choreography. In 2015 he embarked on a 4000 km journey on foot, from Turkey to the Netherlands, which was followed by the decision to move away from institutional contexts to favor his personal research on the mechanics of attention. For the last ten years he has developed his own body practice, which does not follow but is influenced by regularly attending 10 days vipassana courses as taught by S.N. Guenka.
NATÌSA - a spontaneous founding ritual, well framed, 21 July 2022
On Friday, 15 July 2022, we went swimming in the Natisone, the river that traverses Cividale. According to the Roman historian Plinio il Vecchio, Natisone is the most beautiful river to swim in. We gathered at the river bank for a dream session. Afterwards, Giorgia saw a stone in the distance. Its spherical proportions caught her attention and there was a strange shadow of a plant reflecting on the stone. We decided to bring it home. Each of us carried it for a few meters because it was heavy. At some point, we were tired and we had to leave it behind. A discussion started if we should hide the stone or leave it in plain sight. In the end, we did something in between: we left it on the side of the road, in the long grass, near the vineyards. We promised to come back the day after. We didn’t. Obviously.
We continued the residency, carrying the stone in our hearts and minds. On the last day, the abandoned stone could no longer be ignored. We created some guidelines to bring it home as if it was a fruit of the Natisa (the Latin name for the river Natisone).
This is the scenario:
1. Bathing - meeting and sealing a pact with the river
2. Resting at the river bank - witnessing the transition from the coolness of the water to the warmth of the sun on our skins
3. Searching for the stone - once found, we lift the stone and each of us carries it for 100 steps and then passes it on. Each of us has to carry it six times in order to make it home. That makes 1800 steps in total.
4. Placing the stone - At home, we find a place for the stone on the festive table of a birthday party. The night before, Biba and Lalla had been celebrating their 80th birthday.