Site-specific performance and the art of not leaving. Issue 1 (1st April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kenney, Denise; Holmes, Nancy
• Is Part Of: Choreographic practices. Volume 9:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 31
• Page End: 43
• Publication Date: 2018-04-01
• Subjects: Dance -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Dance -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Choreography -- Periodicals; 792.82
• DOI: 10.1386/chor.9.1.31_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-5669

Abstract

Endings are a perennial challenge when creating any temporal art form. This article is a reflection of the nature of this problem in the context of site-specific work. We are using this term according to Mike Pearson's definition as cited by Wilkie: a performance 'conceived for, mounted within and conditioned by the particulars of its site and the people it finds there', but in our case the focus is on environmentally responsive site-specific work, work that is generated with and for a site's ecological and historical and cultural systems and patterns. We propose that the problem of the ending, in such a context, is linked to problems of place-attachment, and ironically, for us, our reflections were generated in a site far away from our own place.