Freelance Dance Artists’ Working Ecology September 10, 2023 blog My colleague Karen Wood at C-DaRE has been working with local freeland dance artists and has recently published a report available for download at he danced September 1, 2023 blog From the extraordinary Hopeland by Ian McDonald: Auberon Brightbourne strode onto the dance-floor. No hesitant, testing steps here. He must throw listening and pain August 24, 2023 blog listening opens that which pain has closed. – Jerry Colonna, Reboot (Chapter 1) Seems like listening is something I come back to on this blog. See body politics July 6, 2023 blog Here’s a videoed walk and conversation between Sunaura Taylor and Judith Butler. They talk about being bodies and I liked it a lot: I’m allergic to vernacular activities June 21, 2023 blog The Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich is best known for his book Tools for Conviviality (1973). Illich used the word ‘vernacular’ to name all the one sentence email tips May 21, 2023 blog This blog is about as far away from a productivity blog as you could imagine, but I really enjoyed Josh Spector’s](https://joshspector.com) list of scrutiny April 24, 2023 blog For Sebald everything is an uncanny memento mori: even a photograph is a device through which the dead scrutinise the living. I read this quote by ripeness March 26, 2023 blog I’m in the middle of supporting the development of Igor and Moreno’s new choreography Karrasekare. The work is at an intriguing stage some seven mini essay March 17, 2023 blog This is to remind casual and regular readers of this blog that each month I send out a mini-essay to people who have subscribed to my mailing list. Esther May Campbell March 14, 2023 blog I saw these images in Dark Mountain Issue 21 and was enraptured by them. They were taken as part of the Kitchen Table Photo Club started by Esther a community of practice February 19, 2023 blog Back in January I was interviewed for Gemma Harman’s podcast called Resdance — a podcast about research in dance. The interview was published a a nest for hope January 20, 2023 blog I like James Bridle’s writing. Here’s an extract from a recent blog post of his called hope needs a place to perch: To learn, to make Colin, Simon and I archive January 16, 2023 blog & practice Colin Poole and I started working together as “Colin, Simon and I” in 2009. We made politically and racially charged choreographies, and I find it power of a lifetime January 10, 2023 blog The son of an old friend of mine is deep in the world of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Not so long ago, while trying to explain to now: 4 January 2023 January 4, 2023 blog Going on for me right now: Reading: Writing Dance by Jonathan Burrows; The Feeling of What Happens by Antonio Damasio; Ministry for the Future by brittle with relics December 17, 2022 blog I recently shared my film Children of the Soil with a friend who wrote back that “your film took me very directly to this”: To live in Wales is to the land in you October 26, 2022 blog Over the northern summer I read Paul Kingsnorth’s 2014 novel The Wake. It’s set during the Norman invasion of England in 1066 but the most striking Adam Phillips on attention October 9, 2022 blog My friend Paul Paschal sent me this brief quote from psychoanalyst Adam Phillips’ book Seeking Attention (p.96): Freud is suggesting that attention urgent time August 28, 2022 blog The times are urgent; let us slow down. – Báyò Akómoláfé, cited in Vita Sleigh (2022), ‘Relationships Between the Cracks: Making Oddkin’, Dark when we party we dance August 17, 2022 blog I’m still studying and practising Italian and sometimes this involves doing some writing. Here’s something very brief I wrote the other day (just an image is a call August 12, 2022 blog In February of 2020 I went to listen to Romeo Castellucci in conversation with Joe Kelleher at Roehampton University. I took some rather rough notes lost August 1, 2022 blog Not a recent drawing types of participation July 29, 2022 blog Back in December 2018 I went to a two-day Becky Hilton workshop at Independent Dance in London. We worked on so many different things (the entire Go in and in June 12, 2022 blog Be the space Between two cells, the vast, resounding silence in which spirit dwells. Be sugar dissolving on the tongue of life. Dive Agatha Yu GIFs June 1, 2022 blog Agatha Yu is a designer and human computer interaction specialist who works at Apple. She says that she “focuses on amplifying human senses.” She one of a crowd May 18, 2022 blog I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence, Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt, Force Majeure May 6, 2022 blog Last year I had the pleasure of working with the animator Magali Charrier on a short film called Force Majeure. It is built around a script that quality and quantity March 21, 2022 blog I repost a lot of material from kottke.org, as if Jason Kottke is some kind of personal (well, not really personal) internet filter. In his December accents and bravery March 15, 2022 blog Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery. – Amy Chua I really like this idea, and the quote itself is all over the internet. suzannah February 24, 2022 blog In 2002 and 2003 I had the tremendous pleasure of working and dancing with Suzannah Edwards. I learned today that she died on 14 February 2022. She uniqueness and sonder January 23, 2022 blog When you start appreciating someone’s uniqueness instead of just seeing them as a label like ‘religious fundamentalist’ or ‘single mother’, you are would have been January 16, 2022 blog My mother Gabrielle Eastwood-Ellis would have been 85 today. Here she is in 1960 on her honeymoon. She was 23 at the time frame.2 - connecting, moving & making online January 14, 2022 blog I’m involved in this terrific series of workshops called Frame, curated and led by Kyra Norman and Claire Loussouarn, and hosted by Independent the arrow January 9, 2022 blog I’ve just finished reading Roman Krznaric’s utterly inspiring book The Good Ancestor. It’s a book about deep time and long-term thinking. Here’s one emerging experience January 4, 2022 blog There is something compelling about the constancy of Antonio Damasio’s focus on the nature of consciousness. With each new publication, there’s a gabrielle November 4, 2021 blog Gabrielle Anne Eastwood Ellis 16 January 1937 - 4 November 2021 stand by me October 28, 2021 blog cookie monster October 8, 2021 blog You know those cookie consent dialog boxes that now pop up on every website you visit since GDPR entered our world in 2018? This week Nieman Lab’s now: 4 October 2021 October 4, 2021 blog Going on for me right now: Reading: Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul, Rationality by Steven time management advice September 2, 2021 blog Warning: long post and there’s no tl;dr. I was recently in the studio with a group of choreographers. One of the things that came up was how they probably in a good place August 30, 2021 blog In Daniel Pink’s slightly flimsy book When: the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, there’s a section called When to Quit a Job: A Guide. Point 3 what one already knows August 23, 2021 blog Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows. – Epictetus, Discourses, the show is over August 9, 2021 blog events like this (with attendees jetting in from all over the planet) are no longer viable if we want to ensure a liveable planet for future belonging is stronger than facts July 26, 2021 blog In the podcast I make with Lee Miller called Midlifing Lee and I keep coming back to the ways in which human beings depend on the concepts of us and now: 25 July 2021 July 25, 2021 blog Going on for me right now: Reading: Why I am Not Going to Buy a Computer by Wendell Berry, Dove Mi Trovo by Jhumpa Lahiri, Consolations by David weakness of the flesh July 18, 2021 blog Weakness of the Flesh is a film by Kevin McGloughlin and Jacob Jonas that uses relatively simple animation to duplicate and people the solo dance choreography and explaining jokes July 4, 2021 blog My friend Rosemary Lee is a remarkable choreographer. Her artistic work captures so much of the spirit of being human: of being together, our 2004 and 2021 June 20, 2021 blog In 2002 I started initial thinking and dreaming about a work that would eventually become Inert (2006). In 2004 David Corbet, Shannon Bott, Cormac elvis legs June 6, 2021 blog During the initial COVID lockdown British Choreographer Lea Anderson published an online and crowdsourced version of a 1995 work. It’s called Elvis grateful love May 23, 2021 blog A long time ago my mother gave me a copy of a poem she wrote the day I was born. I find the idea of ‘grateful love’ deeply moving. Little child, the infinite game and choreography May 10, 2021 blog In 2019 the author and “unshakable optimist”1 Simon Sinek published a book called The Infinite Game (2019) that made the work of American religious choosing to pay April 24, 2021 blog Ferdy Christant is an “amateur (wildlife) photographer with an opinion” and the person who started www.jungledragon.com. In 2019 he wrote a post now: 17 April 2021 April 17, 2021 blog Going on for me right now: Reading: Present Shock by Douglas Rushkoff, Breve Storia del Corpo Umano: Una Guida Per Gli Occupanti by Bill Bryson, the eyes of the other April 11, 2021 blog Tara Brach is a Psychologist and Western Buddhist. In a recent episode of her podcast called The Power of Deep Listening she describes how she and loneliness, uncertainty and boredom March 29, 2021 blog The phone gives us a lot but it takes away three key elements of discovery: loneliness, uncertainty, and boredom. Those have always been where better left unsaid March 27, 2021 blog Something to aspire to: I begin to speak only when I’m certain what I’ll say isn’t better left unsaid. – Plutarch, Cato The Younger, 4 120fps March 14, 2021 blog I started some simple experiments last week throwing and catching a camera. Here’s an animated gif of one catch that has been stripped from video le mani March 12, 2021 blog Molto tempo fa abbiamo cominciato a pensare usando le mani, non il contrario. – Gary Rogowski, Handmade: Creative Focus in the Age of Distraction before they love March 1, 2021 blog I don’t remember where I took this photo, and nor do I know what it means, but I sure do like it sneaky aspects of group deliberation February 26, 2021 blog Here’s Ian David Moss talking about how good groups are at making decisions: one of the sneaky aspects of group deliberation is that it reliably informational heartbeats February 23, 2021 blog I like Rebecca Toh’s blog a lot. She’s a photographer, and her site is full of wisdom, care and beauty. In her post informational heartbeats she what gordon parks saw February 21, 2021 blog This is a short video by Evan Puschak (The Nerdwriter) about the photographs of Gordon Parks. Where I saw it: rhoneisms February 16, 2021 blog Patrick Rhone’s blog Rhoneisms is one of my favourite sites to follow. The posts are variously playful, serious, moving and everyday. I’ve reblogged ideology February 14, 2021 blog This quote is from the Czech dissident (and former president) Václav Havel’s famous 1979 essay The Power of the Powerless: Ideology is a specious mean world syndrome February 12, 2021 blog Rutger C. Bregmans’s book Humankind: A Hopeful History (2020) is fascinating and moving. Here he is discussing our capacity to manage and copy with dream baby dream and joy February 9, 2021 blog It’s pretty obvious I like Bruce Springsteen. Here are previous posts of mine where he’s talking audiences, audiences and common experiences, the xkcd hug count February 7, 2021 blog The amazing XKCD: I’m getting and giving plenty of hugs at home but wow do I miss hugging other people. 2007 was clearly an awesome year. Original the families February 3, 2021 blog There’s a been a blast of these lately around where I live: I wonder if it feels like a hoax for the families of the 100k dead from the virus here if then else January 30, 2021 blog the mission of nearly every corporation. Collect data. Write code: if/then/else. Detect patterns. Predict behaviour. Direct action. Encourage nobody January 28, 2021 blog Nobody is setting up a programme in unemployed studies, homeless studies, or trailer park studies because the unemployed, the homeless, and the the competency model January 22, 2021 blog From Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall’s Nine Lies About Work, and regarding the measurement of performance at work: the competency model is the the art of reading January 19, 2021 blog The art of reading, in short, includes all of the same skills that are involved in the art of unaided discovery: keenness of observation, readily question your teaspoons December 28, 2020 blog Georges Perec on questioning the habitual: Make an inventory of your pockets, of your bag. Ask yourself about the provenance, the use, what will midlifing November 27, 2020 blog Back in October my friend Lee Miller suggested we start a podcast. Yes, that’s what the world needs … another podcast. But we did it anyway and we how to receive updates November 27, 2020 blog This is a post to show you how to receive updates (or be notified of an update) to this website, but also to pretty much any website. It uses an old how a conversation is going to go November 19, 2020 blog Kate Murphy is a journalist and her book You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why it Matters is not a scholarly text. She does describe a uncertainty and continuous updating November 18, 2020 blog Remember that when people announce they “believe science” they are believing in something which has features of uncertainty and continuous updating how to disagree November 11, 2020 blog I don’t know how I happened across this website from 2008 but the opening sentence says so much about how much the web has changed since then: The aroha October 27, 2020 blog The radical idea of aroha is replacing a neo-liberal mythology of life as a market based on egos pursuing their own interests, which in New Zealand atkinson hyperlegible font October 25, 2020 blog Atkinson Hyperlegible font is named after Braille Institute founder, J. Robert Atkinson. What makes it different from traditional typography design secret history of our enemies October 12, 2020 blog If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. – Henry popcorn popping September 27, 2020 blog More in the slow-motion-is-amazing series (also reblogged from kottke.org) long form documents September 17, 2020 blog Word processors are powerful tools which are mostly used like very expensive electric typewriters. Remember those? What follows are eight installation view September 16, 2020 blog In August 2019 I went and saw Olafur Eliasson’s In Real Life exhibition at the Tate Modern in London. The exhibition was a large collection of three applications for research September 14, 2020 blog Last week I posted a set of three principles for a research system. At the end of the post I mentioned that I use the same collection of plain text asking questions September 13, 2020 blog In Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana outline a method for turning classrooms around so research systems September 8, 2020 blog It’s autumn in the northern hemisphere and this means — among many others things, and even in spite of a certain pandemic — that the new University there is no cloud September 7, 2020 blog There is no cloud, it’s just someone else’s computer. This is a sticker created by designer Chris Watterston that went “global”: dial-a-spectacle September 6, 2020 blog Emilie Gallier is a French artist based in the Netherlands. This is the call-out for her performance work called ‘Dial-a-Spectacle’: Dear all, I nick cave and mercy August 30, 2020 blog Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files is a site online where Cave responds to a huge range of questions from his fans. His responses are at various times failed institute of failure August 16, 2020 blog The 2001 Tim Etchells and Matthew Goulish online curatorial project called “The Institute of Failure” is/was an amazing collection of ideas to do postcards from before August 2, 2020 blog The artist Lil Boyce began a project in Melbourne in 2003. It started as a series of conversations with people about the places they’d lived in. She slow motion August 2, 2020 blog Fantastic introduction by Phil Edwards at Vox into how slow motion works and how seductive it is. reblogged from advantage of writing July 19, 2020 blog The most important advantage of writing is that it helps us to confront ourselves when we do not understand something as well as we would like to the long view July 4, 2020 blog If human beings really were able to take the long view — to consider seriously the fate of civilization decades or centuries after our deaths — we naps July 3, 2020 blog In praise of naps: In many ways, naps are Zambonis for our brains. They smooth out the nicks, scuffs, and scratches a typical day has left on our tendency to want to do something June 29, 2020 blog From this amazing page of mental models, here’s the Tendency to Want to Do Something (Fight/Flight, Intervention, Demonstration of Value, etc.) We changing minds June 21, 2020 blog … people don’t change their minds through confrontation and argumentation. They DO change their minds, sometimes very quickly; but quietly, in donato sansone concatenation June 20, 2020 blog Donato Sansone’s extraordinary work of splicing, slicing, rotating olympic games footage as if to be a single shot. Repost from comfort in June 7, 2020 blog My friend Tamara Tomić-Vajagić once sent me this guide to not saying the wrong thing. It’s spectacularly simple: comfort in, dump out. Image: Wes confront our errors May 29, 2020 blog The real enemy of independent thinking is not any external authority, but our own inertia. We need to find ways to counteract confirmation bias –- empty May 24, 2020 blog This is a short film directed by Benoît Toulemonde that follows the musician Nils Frahm as he collects (and makes) sounds. The film is highly for nothing is fixed May 21, 2020 blog For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not eighteen May 18, 2020 blog From 18 May 2002. Got you on my mind pandemic intimacy May 17, 2020 blog Hamish MacPherson and Matthew de Kersaint Giraudeau remarkable collection of people’s experiences of sexual and sensual intimacy during COVID-19 one fine day May 16, 2020 blog I happened across the video on this brainpickings post. Music and words: David Byrne and Brian Eno Percussion: Mauro Refosco Choir: Brooklyn Youth too old to dream May 10, 2020 blog On 13 December 2000 I videoed a conversation with my Grandmother, Gladys Eastwood. It was one day after her 87th birthday. At one point, she sang sniff the screen May 8, 2020 blog I was just watching a video online about how to make Le Fritelle di Salvia. After Nonna Maria had picked this amazing bunch of sage I sniffed the to question your knowledge April 26, 2020 blog We must credit the child with enormous potential and the children must feel that trust. The teacher must give up all [their] preconceived notions in my body April 22, 2020 blog students in my [improvisation] classes comment on how wonderful it feels to “be in my body three times a week.” This odd expression occurs with such ige April 20, 2020 blog Ian Graham Ellis 20 April 1929 - 18 December 1995 Here he is playing rugby for Sydney University in 1953 consumption April 19, 2020 blog Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that small acts of transformation April 11, 2020 blog When we cook things, we transform them. And any small acts of transformation are among the most human things we do. – Tamar Adler, An Everlasting why dance matters now April 10, 2020 blog Critical Path in Sydney was partnered by Delving into Dance for their Digital Interchange Festival 2019-2020. They did a call for interest in running and avoiding April 5, 2020 blog The shape of a run while trying to avoid people due to COVID-19 restrictions scale April 3, 2020 blog Starring Finn Ellis-Whitty memory is like a wikipedia page March 28, 2020 blog The upshot is that memory is not a fixed and permanent record, like a document in a filing cabinet. It is something much more hazy and mutable. As not standing on your own March 28, 2020 blog That model of the individual is comic, in a way, but also lethal. The goal is to overcome the formative and dependent stages of life to emerge, stumbling across down March 16, 2020 blog In 2009 I was invited to be part of Europe in Motion — a group of European artists chosen to participate in a series of dialogues, workshops and autobiography in five short chapters March 16, 2020 blog I I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost … I am helpless It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a the pleasure of making things March 14, 2020 blog Last week I spent a couple of afternoons with the fabulous, playful and thoughtful undergraduate dance students at the University of Malta. In the two people together blog post March 12, 2020 blog In April and May 2019 I travelled to Odin Teatret in Denmark to work with Igor and Moreno. The residency was to start research and development for a g February 29, 2020 blog the invention of clothing February 21, 2020 blog The subject was anything but frivolous: donning a garment is a complicated act. Clothing has practical uses—warming the body in cold places, embodied and disembodied February 20, 2020 blog In dance scholarship we seem to use the verb to embody rather loosely and confusingly. Of the various definitions in the OED—and putting aside some phones, feelings and radically analogue bodies February 18, 2020 blog In February 2020 the German artist Simon Weckert put 99 smartphones into a small red trolley, walked around Berlin and created what he called a emotions February 15, 2020 blog I happened across this fantastic emotion wheel by Geoffrey Roberts over at imgur.com/tCWChf6 are you comfortable there? February 12, 2020 blog My friend Bob Whalley used to have different cards printed that she would hand out at opportune (or sometimes inopportune) times.1 A long time ago being heard February 7, 2020 blog Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable. – David Augsburger, cited in Chris Bailey’s discarding tribal allegiance February 2, 2020 blog If you had told me, even six months ago, that a climate disaster like this one would strike a place like Australia, I probably would not have algorithms January 29, 2020 blog an algorithm [is] an opinion formalized in code – Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction (Chapter 1) city roads January 26, 2020 blog Beautiful rendering of the roads in any town/city/area: anvaka.github.io/city-roads/ Reblogged from daringfireball.net/linked/2020/01/24/city-maps beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing January 26, 2020 blog Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too dance my life away January 20, 2020 blog I don’t wanna die, I’d rather dance my life away – Prince “1999” (written in 1982) git January 14, 2020 blog Git is what is known as a Version Control System primarily used by software developers to collaborate, to track the progress of their work, and to move slow January 12, 2020 blog Move slow and take care of things consent is only meaningful if it is informed January 12, 2020 blog The whole thing about whistle blowing [is that] it’s not about me. It’s about us and always is. In a democracy Government derives its legitimacy just like you January 12, 2020 blog Walk gently on this earth with purposeful steps You share this space with seven billion human beings And countless other precious life forms Just the ordinary people January 7, 2020 blog You can cheer the end of Sulaimani and still be anti-war. You can condemn the way Sulaimani was executed but still be relieved that he is no longer terrible sex January 6, 2020 blog It’s hard not to love Nina Power’s attempt to write a theory of dance: Dancers intimidate normal, unhealthy people. Their superior physique and the long arc January 5, 2020 blog I don’t seem to be posting a lot about dance and art at the moment but I couldn’t help but post this clear and succinct summary of the terrible end of a dancer January 3, 2020 blog Where dancers go to die (or open a pilates studio) stuck on a sentence December 31, 2019 blog In August 2018, The New York Times published a history of the critical decade — 1979-1989 — in relation to the science and politics of climate the worth of an idea December 29, 2019 blog All of our days are numbered. We cannot afford to be idle. To act on a bad idea is better than to not act at all. Because the worth of the idea on silence and speaking December 22, 2019 blog Not speaking and speaking are both human ways of being in the world, and there are kinds and grades of each. There is the dumb silence of slumber or challenge our ways December 8, 2019 blog I always thought if we expect our students to challenge things, we as tutors should also challenge our ways of teaching. – Klaus Hoek This is some dancing December 2, 2019 blog Some dancing I was doing back in 2017 as part of daily practice to do with thinking about and sensing time strong opinions December 2, 2019 blog Here’s technology forecaster Paul Saffo from 2008: Since the mid-1980s, my mantra for this process [forecasting] is “strong opinions, weakly held.” every young person December 1, 2019 blog I think every young person who regularly uses a computer should learn the following: how to choose a domain name how to buy a domain how to education as a privately consumed good December 1, 2019 blog What I can say is common between the founding intellectual ideas and the roll out [of neoliberalism] is that the idea that only two things ought to not about intellectual humiliation November 26, 2019 blog The texts I gave students were challenging, but never meant to subjugate, or, as Walter Benjamin when speaking about education more aptly phrased, new eyes November 25, 2019 blog I saw this the other day: It translates to something like: “A true voyage of discovery is not to search for new land, but to have new eyes.” In a different kind of biography November 15, 2019 blog I was really struck by Tamson Pietsch’s blog post on rethinking and rewriting an academic biography.1 Tamson writes, “my academic bio says very i could have November 10, 2019 blog Repost from Sarah Elgart over at Cultural Weekly. Director Anna Galinova’s “i could have” It’s a simple film — like an arthouse music video — but I sally potter and the best time to start is now October 14, 2019 blog The best time to start is now (don’t wait) Take responsibility for everything (it saves time) Don’t blame anyone or anything (including yourself) the dead September 1, 2019 blog What would the dead want from us Watching from their cave? Would they have us forever howling? Would they have us rave Or disfigure ourselves, or be reliable source August 18, 2019 blog From wired.co.uk/article/wikipedia-fake-news-disinformation: while other platforms are mired in debate over the borders between free speech, civic responsibility August 17, 2019 blog From Roger McNamee’s book Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe: The internet platforms have harvested fifty years of trust and goodwill anne boyer rules for teachers August 17, 2019 blog Yesterday the artist/choreographer Paul Hughes sent me a link to this list of rules for teachers written by the American poet Anne Boyer. They are curing affluenza August 4, 2019 blog Richard Denniss is an Australian economist and his book “Curing affluenza: how to buy less stuff and save the world” is well researched, clear and data July 22, 2019 blog I happened across this image the other day at changeabilitysolutions.com: Given just how overwhelming it is to understand how data is changing and shona July 11, 2019 blog On 18 June this year the remarkable dancer, teacher and choreographer Shona Dunlop MacTavish died in her hometown of Dunedin in New Zealand. She was history June 9, 2019 blog History as “… a thin thread stretching over an ocean of the forgotten.” – Milan Kundera, The Joke (cited in Waltzing in the Dark by Brenda Dixon the dirt May 27, 2019 blog Look for the dirt behind the shine. – Naomi Klein’s grandfather (in the acknowledgements to No Logo) overton window May 12, 2019 blog I was reading something recently (but can’t for the life of me track down the original source) about politics and policy and read of The Overton maximum irony and losing your data April 28, 2019 blog As Jamie Zawinski has remarked, when it comes to losing your data “The universe tends toward maximum irony. Don’t push it.” – Kieran Healy, The ahmed and recognising systems April 14, 2019 blog Sara Ahmed is a remarkable writer. She writes in loops and tangles of words in which the words start to behave (or mean things) differently. It’s viola sunrise March 30, 2019 blog In late 2006 early 2007 I had a chunk of Australia Council funding to research and develop a new performance installation called Crevice. The full responsibility March 17, 2019 blog Last year I had the pleasure of spending time at the University of Alabama for a short residency with choreographer and filmmaker Rebecca Salzer. We listening March 3, 2019 blog Tara Brach is a psychotherapist and meditation teacher based in Washington DC. I was listening to a podcast episode of hers last night called The will not compute February 17, 2019 blog I happened across a poem by Wendell Berry because of a newsletter delivered by Riverford Organic Farmers with our vegetables. The poem is called at night February 8, 2019 blog And for something different. Some scuba divers at night. Photo by Ian Baker. Taken in the Red Sea, January 2019 dancehouse February 3, 2019 blog Dancehouse is a venue in Melbourne, Australia. It began as an artist-led space in 1992 but now is slightly more conventional in how it is organised, between faces blog December 10, 2018 blog Last month I performed a ‘desktop presentation’ as part of Light Moves Festival of Screendance in Limerick. Over the years I’ve played a lot with started dancing November 12, 2018 blog I was trawling through the website of the wonderful Becky Edmunds the other day and stumbled across this utter gem called Have you started dancing nepotism and privilege October 14, 2018 blog MM: Do you think nepotism and privilege might actually be a thing? JS: Nah, it’s the story they tell children to frighten them at night. – heard the in terms of performance September 30, 2018 blog Link to In Terms of Performance – simple yet thoughtful collection of ideas, terms and perspectives about performance and artistic practice we took photographs September 16, 2018 blog In May this year, Paul Hughes, Hamish MacPherson and I had a residency at S’ALA in Sassari, Italy. There were no planned outcomes from the work we ancora una volta September 7, 2018 blog Igor and Moreno’s remarkable dance called Idiot-Syncrasy is being presented once again at The Place in London. It’s on Tuesday 9 October 2018, and eu copyright directive September 7, 2018 blog I’ve posted before about The Electronic Frontier Foundation – the non-profit organisation that defends “digital privacy, free speech, and real time archive August 9, 2018 blog When I was developing as an artist in Melbourne the one magazine that seemed to matter in the world of art, dance, theatre, media art and resolutions August 5, 2018 blog I stumbled across this photo the other day. It was an attempt to help students understand video aspect ratios. Talk about a helpful guide some things about dance podcast July 22, 2018 blog Back in February I self-published an e-book through LeanPub called Some Things About Dance. At the time, the co-founder of LeanPub — Len Epp — asked internet rules June 25, 2018 blog People who are familiar with this blog will know that I occasionally veer off into thoughts and links to do with privacy and security. The other day microflicks June 11, 2018 blog Back in 2006, David Corbet and I were working closely on a bunch of different projects. Often this included working with video in various ways. We to avoid having to communicate May 13, 2018 blog The fantastic Jana Perković wrote/tweeted this sometime ago: If you listen carefully, you will notice that Australians primarily use language not the system April 29, 2018 blog My friend and colleague Scott deLahunta suggested not so long ago that I might be interested in Ellen Ullman’s 1997 book Close to the Machine.1 It’s skellis dot info April 15, 2018 blog When I first started a website I used the domain name skellis.net. About a year ago I mapped (or forwarded) that old domain to a new personal domain cognitive biases March 25, 2018 blog I really like Jason Kottke’s blog at kottke.org where he covers diverse topics about culture, design, and technology (etc). More than a year ago he wombat radio March 19, 2018 blog Matt Cornell is a dance artist based in Sydney. For some time now he has been producing a podcast called Wombat Radio. The interviews – most often ambition February 16, 2018 blog I used to be a member of The Place’s associate artist scheme called Work Place, and I see that my 2011 biography still exists on their site: writing January 21, 2018 blog I recently read a book by the New Zealand poet and academic Helen Sword called Stylish Academic Writing. It’s a thoughtful, considered and very well advertising January 7, 2018 blog In the latest edition of Wired magazine computer philosopher Jaron Lanier writes of social media and the advertising business model of the we like lists November 17, 2017 blog Shannon Bott and I first started working together in 2003. We have had a long, fruitful and sporadic working relationship (see Inert and Recovery) copy what we want November 12, 2017 blog If all people want to do is go and look at other people so that they can compare themselves to them and copy what they want — if that is the final, sprawl October 8, 2017 blog Over the summer Melbourne choreographer and dancer Shaun McLeod and I had some time to prepare a scratch performance for the Dance and Somatic andree October 1, 2017 blog Last Wednesday the esteemed dance anthropologist Andrée Grau died suddenly. She had an inquisitive, sharp and beautiful mind, was quick witted and not for choreographic purposes September 11, 2017 blog In the summer I was working with Eva Recacha in the studio at The Place in London and one of the piano chairs had a sign on it: We all have objects limitations September 11, 2017 blog The more one limits oneself, the closer one is to the infinite; these people, as unworldly as they seem, burrow like termites into their own educational persuasion August 20, 2017 blog As a strategy for racial progress, educational persuasion has failed, because it has been predicated on the false construction of the race problem: baldwin on america August 15, 2017 blog I Am Not Your Negro is a documentary by Raoul Peck about James Baldwin film about power, race, love, and a vision of America that is prescient and privacy and eff August 13, 2017 blog I’ve written a little bit previously about privacy – here, here and here — and it’s safe to say a lot of my fun reading and learning seems to centre ouspe resist being contained July 16, 2017 blog The University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand has decided to dump dance from the School of Physical Education: obfuscation July 12, 2017 blog In the academic part of my professional life I spend a lot of time practising to write more clearly and directly. That is, to avoid unnecessary practice of value June 12, 2017 blog The value of practice gets discussed a lot in dance. I remember US choreographer Deborah Hay saying something like, “99% of my choreography is the mediawall June 5, 2017 blog Last year screendance artist Katrina McPherson asked Owa Barua, Natalia Barua and me to be involved in a project that explored ideas to do with feeding research April 15, 2017 blog A bit more than a year ago I participated in a Research Salon at the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at Auckland University. Each of the on leaving facebook April 12, 2017 blog There are, as you can imagine, a number of posts that list reasons to leave Facebook: there’s the Men’s Journal reasons, the New Year’s resolution blogging to save the new precariat March 5, 2017 blog Contemporary academic life is precarious; it’s fast, mean and lean. Our public aim is to build community around the practices and concerns showing not telling February 27, 2017 blog I’m deep into Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography Born to Run. I like Springsteen’s music (yes, since that video with Courtney Cox in 1984), and have anamnesis italiano February 20, 2017 blog In 2009 I made a short film called Anamnesis with Cormac Lally, Bagryana Popov, David Corbet, and Liz Jones. Around that time I asked Marika Rizzi letting us know that they know February 4, 2017 blog The thing about conflicts of interest is that they are inevitable. I’ve experienced them from various sides: I’ve benefited from them, missed out hazelnut chocolate December 23, 2016 blog I’ve had this blog since November 2008 and in that time I’ve never posted either a recipe or anything about conflicts of interest. Here’s a recipe springsteen on pure experience December 11, 2016 blog So whether you’re making dance music, Americana, rap music, electronica, it’s all about how you are putting what you do together. The elements curse of knowledge October 30, 2016 blog When better-informed people find it extremely difficult to think about problems from the perspective of lesser-informed people An example of the we record ourselves October 17, 2016 blog I’m not long back from Ferness in Scotland where I had the pleasure to work with Owa Barua, Katrina McPherson, and Natalia Barua on a screen project numbers and evil September 9, 2016 blog In this sentence psychologist James Hillman could be describing neoliberalism … Working the levers of duty, following the hierarchy of command documenting the document August 3, 2016 blog Previously I’ve posted links to Windows and MacOS copies of my practice-as-research PhD project Indelible (2005). For people using Intel versions of disciplines July 24, 2016 blog Surrenders to conventionality are what disciplines are. The disciplines are social systems that raise their partial ‘as if’ perspectives from mere one simple assumption July 13, 2016 blog As we argue vociferously for our view, we often fail to question one crucial assumption upon which our whole stance in the conversation is built: I empathetic writing July 10, 2016 blog I heard the term empathetic writing yesterday while talking with two content designers Louise Stone and Lil Boyce. Louise described empathetic refuses to disappear June 26, 2016 blog For the body cannot be easily contained by the consumption imperative. It discovers its own sexual and political being and overflows autonomously in extend their experience June 14, 2016 blog But it is the job of anybody who wishes to continue to write, particularly for the theatre, to extend their experience, not only to observe but training mind and body June 12, 2016 blog One piece of advice: train your body to its limits. As far as you can go without injury. Train like a strong young athlete. But train your mind and ted talks and creativity May 16, 2016 blog When he considered his creative friends as individuals, the literature of creativity began to seem even worse — more like a straight-up insult. Our green shifting and success April 26, 2016 blog There’s this phenomenon called green shifting which is a business or management term for the tendency to say things are fine when they are not. I shannon and bassano April 18, 2016 blog I’ve had the tremendous pleasure of working with Australian artist Shannon Bott on and off since 2003. In May this year we are meeting in Bassano provoke and disturb April 3, 2016 blog Reading the materials these days you’d know that art is about celebrating, bringing together, and affirming. You’d know that its about creative big data March 21, 2016 blog A fascinating bit of writing about machines and our routine, non-routine, manual and cognitive jobs. Reminds me of the exquisite human-ness of paradoxes for students February 2, 2016 blog I spent a couple of hours on a choreography with first year undergraduate dance students at Coventry University last week. Below are the notes I our white friend copy January 24, 2016 blog Colin Poole and I have been working on a new performance project. It’s called Our White Friend. Here’s an initial blurb and link, and here’s the r&d not knowing what we are looking for January 19, 2016 blog Humans see and hear what we expect to see and hear. Philosopher Alva Noë writes it like this: if I mention my hat, and then my scarf and then go on word, academia and just writing January 2, 2016 blog a crucial stumbling block in reconfiguring the economics of scholarly communications for the digital age is Microsoft Word. Specifically, the fact return to their skin December 28, 2015 blog On culturebot.org Lydia Mokdessi discusses Anneke Hansen‘s hymn: Part of it is an affirmative of the undeniably physical nature of existence. We students December 18, 2015 blog I’ve been working and teaching at Roehampton Dance in Southwest London since September 2009. Today was my last day on the job. One of the great phd proposal November 10, 2015 blog In 1999 I applied to do a PhD at the University of Melbourne (through the Victorian College of the Arts). I was required to write a 100 word attention, friendship and dramaturgy October 20, 2015 blog On Saturday 17 October I gave a keynote presentation as part of the Thinking Dance Symposium at Leeds Beckett University. The following is a version christian wolff and writing music September 23, 2015 blog In October 2010 I listened to Adrian Heathfield and Jonathan Burrows in dialogue as part of Performance Matters at Toynbee Studios in London. They arfaot and dramaturgy in sassari September 15, 2015 blog I’m currently working with Igor Urzelai and Moreno Solinas — igor and moreno — on their latest project A Room For All Our Tomorrows (ARFAOT). We are freedom, privacy and value August 17, 2015 blog I’m a dancer, choreographer and teacher and I tend to be surrounded by people who openly value this kind of work. That said, I don’t have to work reading rafa August 2, 2015 blog I recently read tennis player Rafael Nadal’s autobiography Rafa and for anyone curious about the psychological demands of sport it’s a very fine lisa nelson July 20, 2015 blog I happened across an interview with the remarkable US improviser Lisa Nelson the other day. It features prolonged footage of her dancing with Steve bleeker on dramaturgy July 6, 2015 blog He or she is not only an analytical eye from the outside, but also a body who thinks along with the director or choreographer — that is, a supervision and the loop June 7, 2015 blog One of the great pleasures and privileges of my job is to work with postgraduate — Masters and PhD — students who are interested in the igor and moreno and boldness May 24, 2015 blog For the last three or four years I’ve been working with choreographer-dancers Igor Urzelai and Moreno Solinas (igorandmoreno.com). My official role just one shortcut April 25, 2015 blog This is not a tech blog (in the slightest) but this week I’ve ended up for one reason or another watching friends, colleagues and students operating caring about education April 19, 2015 blog I care about education. I care about the people involved – students, teachers and administrators – and their thinking, curiosity and commitment. I administrative purpose March 15, 2015 blog It’s old news I know but Higher Education is wobbling. Marina Warner’s article – Learning My Lesson – is a taut summary of the situation in the UK seeing people not training March 10, 2015 blog When I talk to dancers I often express how I am interested in seeing them and not their training. Here are two quotes from Ohad Naharin that seem to attention January 27, 2015 blog Randall Szott’s Lebenskünstler is one of my favourite blogs. The range of ideas, links, and provocations is broad, but at the heart of the blog is ideas and noise January 18, 2015 blog Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation is a good read. I spend a lot of time with students talking learning journey January 10, 2015 blog I was clearing out some old notes over the holidays and happened across this learning journey written back in Autumn 2009. I had a teacher in higher education environment December 22, 2014 blog It’s a tough time to be part of higher education in the UK at the moment, in particular if you are not a STEM subject. I’ve written quite a bit on on being injured December 9, 2014 blog I injured my back pretty much immediately after I started dancing. I was asked to be in a ballet (with next to no training) and I seem to remember memory and the future November 23, 2014 blog We might worry about what it means for justice if an eyewitness can be so easily swayed by a leading question. But there’s a good reason for the excellent sheep November 4, 2014 blog In Excellent Sheep1, American author and literary critic William Deresiewicz explores what is happening to young people before, during and after where the heart beats October 26, 2014 blog This is a blog post for the Melbourne-based architectural photographer John Gollings. I recently finished Kay Larson’s book called Where the Heart recovery melbourne October 24, 2014 blog In 2008 a dance project called Recovery was started by Melbourne-based artists Natalie Cursio and Shannon Bott as a very direct response to the colin simon and i silence October 19, 2014 blog Colin Poole and I are presenting some ideas as part of Of Two Minds at Lilian Baylis on Thursday 30 October, 2pm to 6pm. This is a dance is a messy business September 28, 2014 blog The first and only time I met Meg Stuart was at a workshop in New York City in November 2001. I was floored by the clarity of her thinking and the para-academic September 23, 2014 blog Yesterday I had the great pleasure of being back working with students in the classroom-studio at Roehampton Dance. Their questions were fantastic, knowing and not knowing September 4, 2014 blog The other day I happened across a very small notebook that had five pages of handwritten text in it. These were the first notes I jotted down for a producer type people September 2, 2014 blog Yesterday I heard two different people in two very different contexts say the word(s) producer-type-people. In our planning for Pause. Listen., new project and respecting the dancer August 31, 2014 blog Tomorrow I begin work in the studio for a dance project that will be shown in the Founders’ Studio at The Place in London starting 17 September. It performances August 25, 2014 blog Early in 2010 the University of Roehampton’s Department of Dance was overhauling its suite of Masters programmes. I was (and am) interested in how hard to see August 18, 2014 blog Dance is hard to see. It must either be made less fancy or the fact of that intrinsic difficulty must be emphasized to the point that it becomes all day long August 14, 2014 blog I’m sitting here in tears listening to Sarah Montague interview Ken Robinson. Here’s a bit: SM: Are you really saying that dance is as important as skellis.net August 11, 2014 blog I’ve been cobbling together bits of HTML and CSS for my own website since 1999 and last year I decided to find someone else to do it. I asked plasticity and collaboration August 3, 2014 blog I’ve been excited by a couple of things lately about dance and choreography that have come out of both practice and discussions with others. Here eva recacha July 29, 2014 blog Tomorrow I head to Bassano del Grappa in the north of Italy for some research for a new(ish) project with choreographer Eva Recacha. We had a first context and meaning July 24, 2014 blog Here’s David Pledger (again) writing on theconversation.com: Whether economic, philosophical, social or cultural, the context in which an artwork hear me roar July 20, 2014 blog People are saying I don’t need anything but my own ability to earn a profit. I’m not connected to society. I don’t care how the road got built, I creative behaviour July 6, 2014 blog I thought that art schools should just be places where you thought about creative behavior, whereas they thought an art school was a place where you passing by July 3, 2014 blog I’m passing by the summer theatre at Hammersmith. I pause because I think I recognise one of the cast members. I’m immediately approached by an becoming witch July 2, 2014 blog Charlie Ashwell is a London-based dance-artist who is currently developing a project in which she “traces and invokes the figure of the witch” and responsibility and organisations June 24, 2014 blog I return to Melbourne pretty much each year to work on different projects and in the last 4 or 5 years in particular it’s clear that the scene is all the things that we can do May 19, 2014 blog Part of the work I do as a dancer, choreographer and teacher involves running a Masters programme at the University of Roehampton that is called dramaturgy and idiot-syncrasy May 11, 2014 blog What doesn’t play a role shouldn’t exist. What necessity requires does not need to exist. That’s what you call dramaturgy. Logic, morals or meaning fighting the good fight at movement research and judson church April 7, 2014 blog Late last summer I read with some interest the open call for Movement Research at Judson Church. It seemed like an exciting opportunity to work many words of dancing January 26, 2014 blog Last year I started collecting words to put in front of the word dancing (actually, I don’t know why I started collecting them, but this is what humbled January 20, 2014 blog This is the text of an email I wrote in May 2007, a few weeks after completing the London marathon. I thought it might make an interesting blog post criticism and listening January 6, 2014 blog I’ve been thinking about listening to criticism as a choreographer, and then I read this: The greatest compliment that was ever paid to me was when chocolate December 31, 2013 blog This is a vaguely seasonal post that falls under the things part of On dance, art and things. Here is the opening paragraph of Harold McGee’s ticking things over December 20, 2013 blog I spend a lot of time talking to students and professional practitioners about the nature of practice, and the importance of finding a way to letters to future students December 10, 2013 blog I stole an idea recently from Brian Croxall who apparently stole it from Patrick Williams: Szott, Gove and noticing things November 26, 2013 blog I like Randall Szott’s blog — Lebenskünstler — a lot. He writes provocatively and with a great deal of well-placed skepticism about the art world. liberal education November 10, 2013 blog I read Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind in the late 1980s. My very close friends and I were in our early 20s, and together we found its bruce quote on experience October 6, 2013 blog From Bruce Springsteen: A Secret History: From 55:56min What’s your talent? Your talent is … it’s something that everyone experiences first of tiring of creativity October 6, 2013 blog Was starting to get a bit of creativity fatigue myself: Creativity is about the most worn-out, abused concept that used to mean something sorry if September 30, 2013 blog I see that the pasta maker Barilla is providing further evidence that Italy remains a bastion of conservative attitudes towards equal rights. After anamnesis September 19, 2013 blog Anamnesis is a screendance project that premièred in 2009. It was developed by Cormac Lally, David Corbet, Bagryana Popov and me, with support from what did you do? September 15, 2013 blog Last week I had a public discussion with Michael Pinchbeck about dramaturgy and choreography as part of The Place’s Summer House Socials. Michael teaching choreography September 9, 2013 blog Last Friday (6 September) I attended a roundtable discussion at Independent Dance in London called What is it to teach choreography? The session was provoking not telling September 8, 2013 blog A couple of weeks ago I went and listened to Lost Dog’s Ben Duke talk to Told By An Idiot’s Paul Hunter at The Place. The discussion was about indelible update August 18, 2013 blog In 2005 I finished a practice-as-research PhD called Indelible. It’s about improvisation, archives, memory and liveness in dance and performance and cheap joke August 10, 2013 blog Last month I went and saw/listened to Nils Frahm at St John’s at Hackney Church in London. I like his music a lot — particularly the album Felt — resonating wildly July 22, 2013 blog I pledge to focus the majority of my energies on finding and supporting contemporary cultural activity, whatever form that may take, that resonates blind spots July 15, 2013 blog … when you’re researching in media res, the new ideas or details or stories that you stumble across are much more useful to you, because you can promoting ideas July 5, 2013 blog I’m reading A Year with Swollen Appendices: Brian Eno’s Diary1 and it’s full of delicate treasures and everyday written doodles. It’s also creating working at speed June 27, 2013 blog Below is a quote from musician Thom Yorke in an interview he did with NPR’s Bob Boilen in February 2008. It comes in at 9:40min into the interview. heart places June 18, 2013 blog In March this year, I was in Chicago and happened to be part of a group that performed in the very last performance of the original (since 1978) stories already there June 10, 2013 blog I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. – Michelangelo (apparently) There is an episode of Radiolab from 2 April 2013 audience performer configurations June 4, 2013 blog From Catherine’s Wood’s Mind is a Muscle which explores Yvonne Rainer’s 1968 programme Mind is a Muscle paxton May 27, 2013 blog In mid-January 2012 I went and listened to Steve Paxton at Goldsmith’s University in London. The evening was, in many respects, a moving tribute to preparing for ghosts - the many melodies May 20, 2013 blog This is a reblog from @preparingforghost’s instagram feed. I like how they speak to so many different attitudes or approaches to teaching, michael vs ken May 11, 2013 blog On Thursday 9 May 2013, the UK’s Education Secretary Michael Gove gave an impassioned speech about his concerns about — and plans for — the UK’s writing workflow May 6, 2013 blog I write a lot and for many different purposes: research reports and presentations, blog posts, grant applications, academic articles, responses to thinking is dangerous April 28, 2013 blog Image taken at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago excitement of the new April 28, 2013 blog In March 2012 I presented my adaptation of Deborah Hay’s I Think Not at Napier St in Melbourne. It was an invited audience, for the most part bubble April 22, 2013 blog Sarah Crompton has written an opinion piece in The Telegraph about The Place Prize. She suggests that dance can’t “gain a foothold in the wider material translations April 17, 2013 blog Images from Material Translations exhibition at Art Institute Chicago, featuring five Japanese fashion designers — Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake, Junya 100 day project April 16, 2013 blog Back in January I watched this TEDx talk by Emma Rogan about 100-day projects (such a pleasure to hear her kiwi accent) based on the teaching work contradiction April 10, 2013 blog Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. – Walt Whitman, [Song of Myself]1 A professor of difference and change April 5, 2013 blog Melbourne-based choreographer-director Bagryana Popova and I joke that we only ever make one work (for the record, mine is about death and memory, physical fractals — a response March 15, 2013 blog This isn’t a review, it’s more a response to a performance called Physical Fractals I saw a couple of days ago. I first heard of Chaos Theory some the time it takes trailer March 15, 2013 blog The Time It Takes: A new work directed and produced by Katrina McPherson and Simon Fildes. http://vimeo.com/61454437 The film was shot last summer letter to Mårten Spångberg March 12, 2013 blog Dear Mårten I like your rants on Spangbergianism. They keep me on my toes, and this is a good thing for a dancer. Yours sincerely, Simon. PS. In observation March 4, 2013 blog I think that my job is to observe people and the world, and not to judge them. I always hope to position myself away from so-called conclusions. I collected links about practising February 24, 2013 blog I’ve been writing quite a bit recently about practice as part of some preparation for a seminar I’m giving in Wolverhampton and Roehampton in March. decision making and slipperiness February 21, 2013 blog I’ve been writing a book chapter with Colin Poole these last few weeks (or is that months) and this is a bit that was edited out. I practice good fucking design advice February 16, 2013 blog Constantly fucking challenge yourself. – goodfuckingdesignadvice.com/#adviceID=158 pursuing interest November 29, 2012 blog In the ‘teacher’ part of my professional life, I spend a lot of time working and talking with students about the nature of assessment in zyx November 25, 2012 blog ZYX is an iPhone app by JODI: http://jodi.org Specifically, we noticed the user interface of your app is not intuitive and could not be navigated. the perfect dance critic August 8, 2012 blog I’ve been meaning to reblog Miguel Gutierrez’s “perfect critic” for quite some time. Thanks to Atlanta Eke and friends (via facebook) for the heads on imagination August 6, 2012 blog Earlier this year I was asked to write a short essay for Dancehouse’s (Melbourne) ‘magazine’ based on the theme of “What’s coming?”. Then, last contradictory ideas July 14, 2012 blog Don’t take yourself too seriously, and take yourself as seriously as death itself. Don’t worry. Worry your ass off. Have ironclad confidence, but separation and screendance July 10, 2012 blog the process of dancing in a screendance project resembles more closely an actor in a film shoot than it does being a dancer in a traditional blurred July 9, 2012 blog This Sunday, 15 July 2012 at 19.30, Roehampton Dance is presenting some screendance at Chisenhale Dance Space in Mile End. I’m going to be talking comments are open June 7, 2012 blog Fair call about the audio adverbs: a game to play June 1, 2012 blog Below are two lists of words taken from the most recent Sadler’s Wells promotion for Jasmin Vardimon Company’s (new) production called Freedom. See News #8: European Spring / Antipodean Autumn May 2, 2012 blog Here is some brief news about dance/performance things I’m involved in over the coming months … World première of Because We Care by Colin, Simon & straybird, what matters April 5, 2012 blog I’m a fan of Lucy Cash and Becky Edmunds. They make simple yet compelling films that test and prod at the edges of what we might understand the word Deborah Hay’s I Think Not March 25, 2012 blog Time lapse video of performance of my adaptation of Deborah Hay’s solo “I Think Not”. Held at Napier St, Melbourne, 23 March 2012 Kapiti Island, NZ February 23, 2012 blog News #7: European Autumn / Antipodean Spring November 15, 2011 blog Dear All Some brief news about some things I’m involved in over the coming months … Booth: A Dance Fair has been commissioned by The Place and comma40 November 14, 2011 blog COMMA40: THE PLACE 19 — 27 NOVEMBER COMMA is a dynamic series of commissions enabling artists to experiment and expand their practice in relation to more on blogs and teaching November 5, 2011 blog I follow the blogs and social networking updates of a number of teachers around the world. They inspire me and and ask current and difficult the arrival of self-consciousness? October 20, 2011 blog I was shocked by this story — but perhaps not surprised. Do you want people on the internet to see you crying?” She was shocked when the student blogs in teaching and learning October 18, 2011 blog For some time I’ve been working with various kinds of blogs as part of my teaching and learning work. These have ranged from student-led blogs, work place October 15, 2011 blog I’m involved with a group of artists selected by The Place in London for a new initiative called Work Place. We met for the first time (socially) loss October 11, 2011 blog I’ve started doing dance technique classes again. This is the first time I’ve done classes regularly since about about 2002. It is also the first lists September 26, 2011 blog We have a limit, a very discouraging, humiliating limit: death. That’s why we like all the things that we assume have no limits and, therefore, no tennis September 12, 2011 blog I’ve started work on a project that involves (in part) searching through some old VHS tapes mostly from the very early 1980s. This was not long how much? July 19, 2011 blog Most of what I know about writing I’ve learned through running every day. These are practical, physical lessons. How much can I push myself? How bias towards action July 16, 2011 blog IDEO’s David Kelley waxing lyrical about action, creativity and projects … (via Ken Robinson on twitter, 15 July 2011) Good short interview from greatest gift June 30, 2011 blog Lars Von Trier: “You may prefer to regard it like working with an actor …” Jørgen Leth: “Where you push me to extremes …” Lars Von Trier: “The on friendship June 29, 2011 blog If you press me to tell why I loved him, I feel that this cannot be expressed, except by answering: Because it was he, because it was I. – single idea May 28, 2011 blog The dangerous man is the one who has only one idea, because then he’ll fight and die for it. – Francis Crick berger on collaboration May 13, 2011 blog The only rule in collaborations is that one should never strike deals and never compromise,” he says. “If you disagree on something you shouldn’t rehearsal for leaving May 12, 2011 blog Dance4, February-March, 2011. skellis.net/leaving wild ideas April 30, 2011 blog In my various roles as choreographer, video-maker, teacher (what Cat Harrison calls a “slashie” as in dancer slash maker slash …) I seek better late than never April 30, 2011 blog Remarkable bit of filming, editing and work some guy called Pablo April 30, 2011 blog Taste is the enemy of creativity – Pablo Picasso — via dave trott (@davetrott) April 29, 2011 delusion, choreography and dramaturgy April 20, 2011 blog I am a choreographer and I understand this work to involve developing imaginative and playful questions of how to represent ideas through embodied on humour April 19, 2011 blog On Saturday night I watched the final evening of the finals of the Place Prize in London. There were four performances — Begin to Begin by Eva European Spring / Antipodean Autumn April 18, 2011 blog Dear All Some brief news about some things I’m involved in over the coming months … 1. Colin, Simon & I Colin Poole and I are currently finishing restless writing February 20, 2011 blog If artists more frequently approached writing in public as just such an extension, rather than a means of explaining or promoting it, they might assessing information February 19, 2011 blog the greatest challenge of our current, digital information age is assessing, not accessing information. – Dwayne Harapnuik (cited or reworded by veronique February 6, 2011 blog I had the great pleasure of watching Jerome Bel’s Veronique Doisneau again (perhaps for the 4th time?) on Friday night during the screenings at the inadequate January 27, 2011 blog A grade is an inadequate report of an inaccurate judgement by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined practice as research in dance January 24, 2011 blog University of Northampton, Avenue Gallery Wednesday 23rd Feb, 1.00pm-5.30pm Moving Forwards offers the opportunity to investigate current agendas in outside AiR January 23, 2011 blog Call for volunteer participants for a workshop and performance project: Mehmet Sander’s Uncomfort Zone. In his renowned ‘Manifesto on Dance’, Mehmet he is not here January 23, 2011 blog Image from showing of He is not here at Roehampton University on 10 January 2011. Choreography: Bagryana Popov Performance: Simon Ellis Bagryana and cicero January 20, 2011 blog The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and good old days January 17, 2011 blog Silence. These were in an email from my mother Gabrielle screendance symposium friday 4th february 2011 December 24, 2010 blog movement 12 November 28, 2010 blog I just love what the Movement 12 team is doing — thoughtful, current and adding wonderful richness to the independent dance/arts scene in Brighton defaulting November 7, 2010 blog It’s about time humanists started telling scientists how to think again, as they seem to be defaulting to some quite old stereotypes – Timothy jonathan burrows mentioning christian wolff October 8, 2010 blog I had the pleasure of going to see Jonathan Burrows and Adrian Heathfield last Monday at Toynbee Studio as part of Performance Matters rhythms of performance October 6, 2010 blog I am currently running (walking?) an MA level module called “Dance Practice as Research”. As part of the early stages of their research, I thought dad October 4, 2010 blog My Dad (Ian Graham Ellis) and me — reckon it’s February 1995. He died in December that year. He’s looking cheeky, I’ve got a terrible haircut an experiment September 26, 2010 blog The term ‘experience’ is crucial: for too long spectators have been equated with readers as decipherers of meaning. … The traditional task of seam 2010 September 24, 2010 blog From Critical Path: If you’re interested in the cutting edge connection between Dance performance and technology, then take a look at what’s bechdel and scott pilgrum September 21, 2010 blog Guerrilla Semiotics on Scott Pilgrum: http://guerrillasemiotics.com/2010/09/scott-pilgrim-musings-on-misogyny/ Always insightful, always asking beautiful September 21, 2010 blog How beautiful are these days? – Sam Baker fine fine fine September 21, 2010 blog Thanks to Matthew Smith for this one … reblog: Stephen Fry cutting into the Catholic Church (2009) September 20, 2010 blog reblog from: https://literarypiano.tumblr.com/post/1152857853/whilebird-stephen-fry-demolishes-the-catholic https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbvr0m reaching beyond September 16, 2010 blog Henson and Mills represent very different sensibilities, yet what is most striking about these lectures is their common ground. Both strongly assert crossing borders at siobhan davies dance September 14, 2010 blog Looks like a pretty impressive lineup this year … Edit: 21 July 2020: PDF no longer available skin deep September 5, 2010 blog This looks pretty interesting indeed. Strange though, that given the ‘theme’ of the conference they are inviting papers for submission. ABSTRACT cognitive scientists September 3, 2010 blog An email from Random Dance: Dear Friend, For the creation of our next full-length work, FAR (World Premiere — November 17, 2010, Sadler’s Wells, forty part motet September 2, 2010 blog Last week I had the tremendous privilege of experiencing Janet Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet, installed as part of the Venice Architectural Biennale man on wire August 31, 2010 blog My young nephew’s drawing of Man on Wire the same river twice August 30, 2010 blog In our positivistic civilization, one of the inappropriate compliments sometimes paid to literature is to reduce it to ‘artistic knowledge’. Not shamefully family July 13, 2010 blog I suspect this falls into the ‘things’ category of this blog. This is my niece Rebecca and me at the Hairy Canary in Melbourne. She’s trying to give game intelligence July 6, 2010 blog For me the notion of ‘game intelligence’ is so important. It’s simple, it basically means knowing how to associate with other players. The rest freedom and dignity July 5, 2010 blog A composition must make possible the freedom and dignity of the performer. It should allow both concentration and release. No sound or noise is buber and the interhuman June 28, 2010 blog By the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, from Elements of the Interhuman: Let us now imagine two men, whose life is dominated by appearance, sitting new ways to move June 21, 2010 blog this approach was more about how to invite the body into conditions that would create a new way to move. – Steve Paxton, a moment June 13, 2010 blog From the BBC’s The Man Who Shot the 60s (about photographer Brian Duffy): I tell you the thing I’ve always been amazed at … is looking into a loop jose vidal company June 12, 2010 blog Loop Jose Vidal Company The Place London Friday 11 June 2010 The floor is a white square, about 6 x 6 metres, surrounded in black tarket which, in dan pink autonomy mastery and purpose June 12, 2010 blog thomas ostermeier June 4, 2010 blog Gerhard Jörder writing about German Theatre maker Thomas Ostermeier: Ostermeier’s understanding of realism is ultimately aimed at enlightenment. He guillaume nery and julie gautier June 4, 2010 blog Reblogged from http://slightlymoving.tumblr.com/post/663083109/makenosound-world-champion-freediver-guillaume headghgh June 4, 2010 blog http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/there-grace-god-watches-over-sub-editors kazuo ohno dies June 3, 2010 blog http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/arts/dance/02ohno.html more May 27, 2010 blog From my colleague Erica Stanton (awesome person): I am reminded of some wise words from educationist Elliott Eisner and look forward to a time mini fridge May 26, 2010 blog From the personals in latest London Review of Books: If you like attractive, personable, romantic types I doubt very much that you’d get along with toxification May 24, 2010 blog In Luke Jennings’ review of Babel and Political Mother for The Observer on Sunday 23 May 2010 he writes: Dramaturgs are the management consultants screaming men May 20, 2010 blog Reblogged from Capital Idea (http://apentimento.blogspot.com/2010/05/mystery-of-little-import-about-import.html) The remarkable Mieskuoro Huutajat’s giant smoke ring machine by scott mitchell May 12, 2010 blog From Scott Mitchell: Tomorrow night,Thursday 13th May, the Science-Art Club (myself and students from Brunswick Secondary Collage) will be play May 10, 2010 blog Reblogged from Guerilla Semiotics (http://guerrillasemiotics.com/2010/05/what-does-it-mean-to-go-to-the-theatre): Play is most clearly defined as zebra April 28, 2010 blog I never wonder about the audience. It could be a zebra out there for all I care. – Lou Reed, Word Magazine, April 2010, p.11 Monks Aid Rescue Effort in Kyegundo April 21, 2010 blog SFTHQ on Flickr. Some rights reserved. First viewed at guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/apr/21/newsbucket Jónsi and Artaud April 21, 2010 blog I will try to elaborate on what I mean in a subsequent post; let me just say that the Jónsi set seemed to realize Antonin Artaud’s theater of not much to do with art, but fun anyway April 20, 2010 blog thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/iCade.shtml moooooooo April 20, 2010 blog thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/screaming-knife.shtml naked April 20, 2010 blog Naked, you are simple as one of your hands, Smooth, earthy, small, transparent, round: You have moon lines, apple paths: Naked, you are slender as a on learning April 5, 2010 blog The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies. You some more on working with Bagryana Popov April 4, 2010 blog I’ve just finished working in the studio with Bagryana Popov. She and I have been working together on a solo work since October 2007 when we started Bagryana adapting March 19, 2010 blog I started back in the studio this week on two distinct projects. The first is a solo work directed by Bagryana Popov and the second is a project no paper? March 19, 2010 blog From the main stage of Transmediale, Berlin’s annual international festival for art and digital culture, one of the keynote speakers, information Charlie Gillett March 18, 2010 blog Saturday afternoons are just not going to be the same … www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/mar/17/charlie-gillett-obituary David Byrne on collaboration March 16, 2010 blog journal.davidbyrne.com/2010/03/031510-collaborations.html dog ramp March 9, 2010 blog I’d like one of these, and then I could get a dog reblogging Guy Watson about meat (not a polemic) February 10, 2010 blog I’ve been laughably absent from this blog, which is not to say that I don’t have a stack of things I plan to write about (mostly dance protecting borders at Christmas time December 14, 2009 blog *stunned silence Moves2010 “Framing Motion” December 2, 2009 blog movementonscreen.org.uk/ Deadline 13 December 2009 hitherto November 25, 2009 blog Here’s F.M. Alexander on welcoming the unknown: … that the attempt to bring about change involving growth, development and progressive improvement double-take November 20, 2009 blog … will have guests doing a double-take as they admire your creative home or garden style unlike like other marshmallow blasters! November 9, 2009 blog Every household needs one improve your hearing and enhance your image! November 9, 2009 blog A Dead Statesman (1924) November 8, 2009 blog I could not dig, I dared not rob, And so I lied to please the mob. Now all my lies are proved untrue, And I must face the men I slew. What tale will yoga for cyclists November 5, 2009 blog Subject: yoga for cyclists starting this thursday 5th November Greetings cyclists, yoga enthusiasts and friends, Hope this finds you all generally obstacle course for the mind November 4, 2009 blog Yes — there are plenty more where this came from self cleaning November 2, 2009 blog This is the first in series of scans from a single magazine, read in route from New York to New Haven in early October. It was entertaining and soul capitalism is an impeccably inclusive creed October 22, 2009 blog In principle, however, capitalism is an impeccably inclusive creed: it really doesn’t care who it exploits. It is admirably egalitarian in its Yvonne Rainer October 1, 2009 blog Beyond the resonance of the title, however, the 21st century dance footage (itself containing 40-year-old instances of my 20th century choreography) Bacon’s dog September 29, 2009 blog Study of a Dog, 1952 Francis Bacon From tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bacon-dog-n06131 the body and walking September 27, 2009 blog From Rebecca Solnit’s “Wanderlust: A History of Walking” (p.27) The phenomenologist Edmund Husserl described walking as the experience by which we failure September 17, 2009 blog On Saturday 12 September Colin Poole and I performed a version of our duet “Colin, Simon & I” at The Place in London as part of the Touchwood season influence September 15, 2009 blog Last Friday I went and saw Duncan Jones’ film Moon at the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square. The film was wonderful — intelligent, moving, just out of Furness, Scotland (August 2009) September 13, 2009 blog embodiment August 29, 2009 blog I think about embodiment a lot. Last Saturday I saw a performance at the Royal Court in Sloane Square … Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem is played in methods for testing grace #2 August 25, 2009 blog Shopping at Tesco on Christmas Eve methods for testing grace #1 August 24, 2009 blog Cycling in London fleeting August 24, 2009 blog I’ve been reading Darwin’s Origin of Species recently, mostly because of having a number of conversations with people about the ethics of medical Marina Abramović presents … July 28, 2009 blog Manchester International Festival Whitworth Art Gallery 3 — 19 July 2009 Marina Abramović, Nikhil Chopra, Ivan Civic Rose Hacker July 27, 2009 blog In the BBC documentary, The Time of Their Lives, 102 year-old Rose Hacker says (initially talking about the Iraq war): … I mean the awful thing is General Patton July 26, 2009 blog I am not sure about why I am posting this. There is something about the texture of the leather and the look on his face. It’s grim, dour, tough and Recovery July 8, 2009 blog Image of Nat Cursio from initial development of “Recovery” (involving Shannon Bott and Nat). Image by Dianne Reid I think first attention June 27, 2009 blog A bit more about Feldenkrais. Last Tuesday I was in another Awareness Through Movement class with Rainer Knupp in East London. We started sitting realness June 9, 2009 blog This is from Eammon Forde’s article in the July issue of Word magazine. He is talking about the black hole created by U2 when they “sucked the life staying attentive June 7, 2009 blog Here is Roger Federer, at the post-match press conference, following his remarkable victory at Roland Garros: But it was very hard mentally for me feldenkrais June 5, 2009 blog On Monday I went to a group Feldenkrais session run by Rainer Knupp in East London. It has been some time since I did any Feldenkrais (the last was 505 May 21, 2009 blog There have now been more than 500 views of this entire blog. Eat your heart out Ms Huffington reblog: pretentiousness May 21, 2009 blog Here’s Jana Perkovic — the guerrilla semiotician – discussing pretentiousness: guerrillasemiotics.com/2009/05/pretentiousness/ I am hoping she’ll reblog: when everyone is a curator May 18, 2009 blog The term ‘curating’ has definitely been picked up to describe almost anyactivity that involves choosing one thing over another. – Michelle steve’s palate May 17, 2009 blog I’m a dancer. That means that when it comes to performance it’s my senses and the way I’ve trained my senses, I guess the fact that they can be madness May 5, 2009 blog Why must everything be explained, or be possible to translate, why pick it all to bits – as though it were only a camouflage for something else? dancing lines May 5, 2009 blog from Anamnesis shoot Dancehouse, Melbourne December 2008 Images by Cobie Orger One because the lines interest me, the other because it is a bit Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time May 2, 2009 blog Turbine Hall is vast, almost as high as it is long. From the cafè we are guided down the long ramp, given cushions, and enter the Hall. The audience Forsythe Company’s ‘Nowhere and Everywhere at the Same Time’ April 30, 2009 blog From performance this evening at Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London. Images taken with my phone, hence their average-ness. Am thinking of writing a lie April 30, 2009 blog I can smell out a lie, the kind that underwrites a life, even if it has been camouflaged in a work of art. It is something you can feel when all time April 29, 2009 blog To live is so startling; it leaves little time for anything else. – Emily Dickinson mind brain April 28, 2009 blog Let me think in my little mind brain – Bonnie Prince Billy, Guest DJ on NPR at npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102242295 two types of blogs April 27, 2009 blog lucazoid.com/bilateral/two-types-of-blogs/ happy April 21, 2009 blog The lack of basic resources – material resources – contributes to unhappiness, but the increase in material resources do not increase happiness. – distracted by traffic April 6, 2009 blog In the middle of photographing a sign in Barbican yesterday, I was distracted by traffic. The camera swung downwards, and this image is the result critical running April 5, 2009 blog emergencyrooms.org/criticalrun.html we April 2, 2009 blog … we live and move and have our being … – Paul, Acts 17:28 audience March 22, 2009 blog I go out and I play to many audiences at night. There is the audience that comes because they want to hear their favourite songs, there is an irony capital March 22, 2009 blog … Britain, the irony capital of the world, where sincerity, especially sincerity tinged with spirituality, is seen, at best, as uncool, at worst as marketing March 8, 2009 blog Dance Massive is on in Melbourne right now. I’ve been performing Inert with the wonderful Shannon Bott. In Melbourne the big dance company is Chunky on ordinary March 8, 2009 blog David Byrne being interviewed by the fantastic Stephen Colbert: Colbert: I have a theory about artists … that they are afraid of being ordinary … rhythm February 16, 2009 blog Rhythm is one of the principal translators between dream and reality. Rhythm might be described as, to the world of sound, what light is to the truth February 16, 2009 blog We ourselves will be able to determine what is true and what is not. – Joseph Stalin power February 16, 2009 blog … the superb indifference that the powerful have for the weak. – Simone Weil red sun February 16, 2009 blog My shadow at 07:30am as the sun — made a deep red by the bush fires — lights the office space tube de-advertising February 16, 2009 blog spacehijackers.org/html/projects/tubeadverts/april.html hotel on Eastlink, Melbourne February 16, 2009 blog The fourth major work is Hotel, a 20m-high scale model of a high-rise hotel that will give motorists the impression they are driving past a movie once February 8, 2009 blog We only ever experience anything once. – Shirley McKechnie (chatting today over tea) records February 7, 2009 blog Image from front of online version of The Age newspaper in Melbourne yesterday. It’s hard to describe this kind of heat (it’s more than 115ºF). A tinder box February 7, 2009 blog Just along the Merri Creek trail, Melbourne waving February 7, 2009 blog I was cycling to work on Thursday and was caught on the right hand side of car turning right. At the same time a fire engine was roaring up on my ocean without a shore February 4, 2009 blog www.oceanwithoutashore.com/ Incredible brief January 20, 2009 blog The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. – suspension bridge January 16, 2009 blog http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090115.html final cut online collaboration January 13, 2009 blog As part of a screendance project Anamnesis that I am developing with Cormac Lally, David Corbet and Bagryana Popov, we have been attempting to work Lapage and the image January 3, 2009 blog We’ve always been more associated with image, and our physical work,’ he says of Ex Machina, the company he founded 15 years ago. ’We have always dance out there January 3, 2009 blog http://dance-out-there.blogspot.com/ quodlibet January 3, 2009 blog http://quodlibet.tumblr.com give me January 3, 2009 blog Michael Leunig The Age Melbourne 2 January 2009 Original URL: http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/2005/10/04/1128191706446.html malaise December 30, 2008 blog In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship wildness December 29, 2008 blog Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assault of thoughts on the thinking. – J.M. Keynes Pōhutukawa December 29, 2008 blog The Pōhutukawa — New Zealand Christmas tree. These photos were taken at Piha, on the West Coast of Auckland the language of groups December 25, 2008 blog Street gangs, sports clubs, political parties, families, people who for all kinds of reasons are regularly together, naturally develop a vernacular reading December 18, 2008 blog In reality, every reader is, while he is reading, the reader of his own self. The writer’s work is merely a kind of optical instrument which he think tank December 15, 2008 blog Last Thursday (11 Dec 2008), I had the pleasure of attending a ‘think tank’ run by dancer/choreographers Natalie Cursio and Shannon Bott. They are jacaranda December 15, 2008 blog Right at the end of the season quantity of ideas November 8, 2008 blog I’ve been working a lot with director/choreographer Bagryana Popov. In the improvisations that form the central part of our rehearsal work ‘on the melbourne sky November 2, 2008 blog