Wild Card residency for Anya Kravchenko

Nominated by the network partner CCN Montpellier, Ultima Vez hosted the Russian artist Anya Kravchenko for a residency from July 10 till 22, 2017.

Anna Kravchenko is a Russian choreographer, performer, curator based in Montpellier (France). She investigates different forms of perception, interaction and cooperation between the bodies, approaching choreography as a practice to provoke interdependency and generate spontaneity.

She studied somatics, contemporary dance techniques, composition and improvisation with Alexandra Konnikova, Alexandr Andriyashkin, Ilya Belenkov, Jonathan Burrows, Jeanine Durning, Ivo Dimchev, Frey Faust, Francesco Scavetta, Marten Spångberg, Deborah Hey, DD Dourvillier,Jennifer Lacey to name a few. As well as art history in Russian University for Humanities in Moscow. She was danceWEB scholarship recipient in 2015. Her work was shown in festivals and exhibitions hosted by venues in Moscow (Zill Culture Center, Meyrhold Center) and Montpellier

(l’ESBAMA Gallery, ICI-CCN Montpellier, ZAT festival). She recently graduated from master EXERCE program, where she has been working on the series of «scores for meeting without history and expectation».

«Only if we meet» was initiated by me in 2016 in the frame of master program in partnership with ICI – CCN de Montpellier / Languedoc-Roussillon et UPV Montpellier III, in collaboration with Berlin-based composer Samuel Hertz. «Only if we meet» is a device for three dancers and an audience to meet at an appointed place. It is a «generated» dance, where movement and speech come spontaneously in regards of the choreographic score and specific acoustique and light environment. Choreography here is a set up, build to host different dancers, to reveal subjective

interpretation and to collapse them in common. Sound is generated in real time to share the mode of existence with moving bodies. Original and ready-made sonic material are proceeded in the way so to sharpen vibratory qualities of the space. Dancers bodies ceaselessly reveal movements, acting as perceptive filters, which somatic awareness weaves the inside and outside.

Feedback Anna Kravchenko :

In the frame of wild card residency in Ultimavez studios I was working on the transmission methodology, sharpening a set of exercise which prepare the group of invited performers for the protocols play. Considering available facilities I focused on three protocols from the six, which constitute the piece, two for the group, which generate the ceaseless dance through reciprocal visual references and multiple touch and one for a solo. Sam joined me for a few days of work during which we’ve cautiously articulated the interaction between moving body and the sound environment. And one of these days we dedicate to the group work. I’ve invited three Brusselbased dance-artist Rósa Ómarsdóttir, Jeanne Colin, Stav Yeini to share two protocols and somatic exercises related to their performance. Profiting the momentum of exciting group experience the following days I’ve continued the work on the solo protocol in recurrent move from its performance and re-writing. The recordings of the group and solo runs of the protocols are available on the following links. Trio: vimeo.com/226275326.

Solo: vimeo.com/226848041 [password for both: without-expectation]

Residency served also as a moment to reflect the work in a calm condition and collect, update my intentions in the project dossier, which contains intentions and conditions for the further development of the project. In upcoming 2017 - 2018 season we are considering to work with two groups of performers, based in France and in Russia, in correspondence with local venues - partners. Those are dancers who are already familiar with the project, means were taken part in the research stage. With each group we are looking to have a short 3-5 days preparation session

(Autumn 2017) to conjure up full working session, which will include 10 rehearsal days and 3 performing evenings (Spring - Summer 2018).