The Ontology of questioning looks into ways of defining oneself through the practice of self-interview.
Inspired by other choreographers and theatre directors such as Matthew Goulish, Jonathan Burrows, Xavier Leroy , I dive into the idea of self-defining, repetition and process within the choreographic field.
Through the potential of repetition, I look into the potential of redefining oneself depending on the context that is offered. What I mean by context, is the place and the condition in which I find myself when the question is being asked via my pre-recorded voice. This will in turn trigger different responses.
This piece started as a practice as research piece, involving academic and theoretical research as well as movement research. The idea came from wanting to take risks and challenging my own ways of making as well as questioning it, and exploring various ways of making and creating a piece.
There is something about wanting to make the choreographic and performative process surface in the piece and make the audience aware of this process and how they are part of the process. Indeed, in the performance setting, there are inherent parts of the process that are not often talked about or articulated, but that have a big impact on how a piece is performed and how it is received. Expectation is one of them: what are the performer’s expectations of the audience to understand and appreciate the piece? What are the audience expectations regarding the performance? Where and how do these different expectations meet in the piece?
It’s also important for me to see how other choreographers create and devise, in order to acknowledge a certain ‘history and legacy’ of making.
Overall the emphasise of this piece is on the process and on how to stay in the present and the presence of myself and the audience. Improvisation has been a big part of it, and there is something about the emergence of improvisation that to me is fundamental to performance that I wish to nourish.
Performance and choreography: Marie Chabert
Dramaturgy advise: Pete Guy Spencer
Performed as part of the Triangle meeting, Sudü Freiburg 2023