Performing Temporality in Contemporary European Dance

Jonas Rutgeerts is a dance researcher and dramaturg based in Belgium. He obtained his Ph.D. at the Institute of Philosophy (KU Leuven) in 2015, which analyzed how dance is performed in contemporary European dance.

Introduction 4



          Only Concepts? Dance and the conceptual 5



          Only live? Dance and the ephemeral 8



          Shaping time from within: rhythm and dance 10



          Going against the flow: rhythm in contemporary dance 12



          Dance-philosophy: an infinite conversation. 17



          Articulation of the chapters 19



 



2. Rhythm is life: rhythm in German Ausdruckstanz. 23



          The ‘doctrine of energy’ and the rise of fatigue. 24



          The birth of Körperkultur: Dalcroze’s Eurhythmics. 28



          Rhythm in the beginning of the twentieth century: Rudolf Bode and Rudolf Laban. 29



          Intermezzo: The evolution of the concept rhythm in Bergson’s oeuvre. 36



          Ausdruckstanz and Körperkultur: Mary Wigman’s ecstatic rhythms. 38



          Intermezzo: German Ausdruckstanz and the body politics during the Nazi era. 43



          Conclusion: Becoming rhythm, becoming life. 44



3. Dancing in the meantime: syncopation in the work of Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion. 47



          On the fence: rhythm and milieu in Deleuze and Guattari’s Of the Refrain. 51



          Playing apart: rhythm and syncopation. 56



          Intermezzo: Transatlantic and the resistance of roots. 61



          Following the rhythm: the relation between rhythms and patterns. 64



          Conclusion: Syncopation’s trouble. 66



4. Still dance: hesitation in Ivana Müller’s While We Were Holding It Together 69



          Intermezzo: dance and movement, a modernist love affair 72



          Still-act: the tableau vivant 73



          Time as hesitation: Bergson and the suspension of time. 75



          Intermezzo: the still, or the cinematographic experience of modern times. 79



          The space of elsewhere: Bachelard’s poetic imagination. 82



          Intermezzo: imagination, intuition and the task of the artist 87



          Conclusion: What about tomorrow.. 90



5. Stumbling through time: repetition in the work of Mette Edvardsen. 93



          The logic of the phrase: repetition in Accumulation and Dance. 98



          Stumbling through language: repetition in Black and No title. 103



          Running Out of Time: Performing the Eternal Return. 107



          Intermezzo: The triple murder of the eternal return, or Deleuze thinks death. 112



          Conclusion: The amnesiac witness. 113



6. Dark Utopia, Or Sleeping Through Marten Spångberg’s Natten. 116



         Dancing with myself 118



         Spending the Natten together. 120



         Conclusion: Sushi or sashimi 123



7. Stealing time: Rhythmic operations in a society of control 125



 



Bibliography. 152