MELODANCE
Project phase from beginning of October 2021 to end of February 2022.
This project was made possible by a scholarship from GVL (German Organisation for the Management of Neighbouring Rights).
​MELODANCE is an artistic research project about the relationship between dance and melody through Irish Slow Aires.
​This project was accompanied and documented through a blog. The blog entries include a detailed description and reflection of the research as well as illustrative videos.
Project blog: https://annekatrinkiesel.wixsite.com/melodance
Rhythm is commonly seen as the link between dance and music. But I have always wondered: what role does melody play? Through various points of contact with traditional Irish music, the idea developed to approach this question through Slow Airs.
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Slow Airs are tunes in which melodies (divided into phrases) can be interpreted relatively freely and which are also characterised by an absence of strict rhythm or metre. Using Slow Airs, I took a nuanced look at the effects of melody and phrasing on dance. What traces does melody leave behind and how does it influence and shape my dance, whether in improvised or choreographed form?
Based on active listening and the 'dissection' of the melodic structural features of selected Slow Airs, research and improvisation tasks were explored that have as their subject a danced visualisation of melodies through imitation and/or abstraction. In addition, active listening was also directed inwards, following inner and remembered melodies and making them visible. In dealing with melody, I want to go beneath the surface of what we hear, and thus deepen the exploration of psychosomatic states.
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​Another component of the project were regular one-on-one sessions with musicians who play string or wind instruments and are involved in traditional Irish music. Read more about the sessions here: https://annekatrinkiesel.wixsite.com/melodance/post/on-sessions.