Re: Digital Dancing 97

Scott deLahunta (sdela@ahk.nl)
Sun, 06 Apr 1997 11:57:53 +0200

At 10:45 AM 4/3/97 +0000, you wrote:
>If Digital Dancing is about
>"schooling" then it is about the radical redefinition of what we mean by
>"school" and what we do in it. I am not convinced (and this is based on
>both awareness of and respect for Shinkansen's work) that we share our
>central mission at all nor do I think that we provide the same milieu -
>although I do think that we complement each other and as such are important
>pieces in a bigger puzzle.

In response to Richard's post mentioning shinkansen (their homepage is
http://www.backspace.org/shinkansen/ for those of you interested in the
dance-tech directions they are taking), Terry points towards an important
issue for me -- which is the future of education in the dance/arts feilds.
We need to encourage and promote complementary modes of education which will
include small and large initiatives, to include both students and
professionals. Short, intense events independent events linked to longer
term institutionalized curricula (this is something I'm personally very
interested in seeing happen). Institutions are being pressed to take a
stance on new info and media technologies, but they (generally) don't have
the expertise. I think we are moving towards a future where institutional
boundaries will become (must become) much more porous with less 'teaching'
going on inside the ivory walls -- and more facilitating of learning
experiences and student led projects.

To link such things takes communication and coordination -- networking.
Building trust and relationships. It also takes 'dedicated terminals' --
people put in place and given the time and support to do this. I feel
frustrated by being able to see the links my institution (Amsterdam School
of the Arts) could and should make with outside organisations, individuals,
etc. -- but I don't have the time, with my teaching schedule, to fully
explore the possibilities. Then, there are the endless and increasing
debates about how to 'teach' the arts.

With these thoughts in mind -- Terry, how does Digital Dancing make a
connection with 'students'? Would it be possible to have a special
coordinated group of students independently (with guidance) following a
research/development thread which would culminate in participation/
presentation at your event?

Scott
----------------------------------|
Scott deLahunta and Susan Rethorst
Writing Research Associates, NL
Sarphatipark 26-3, 1072 PB Amsterdam, NL
tel: +31 (0)20 662 1736
fax: +31 (0)20 470 1558
email: sdela@ahk.nl
http://huizen.dds.nl/~sdela/wra (WRITING RESEARCH ASSOCIATES)
http://www.art.net/~dtz (DANCE AND TECHNOLOGY ZONE )