LABORATORY WORKSHOP

music-dance workshop

In collaboration with KD Dance Centre.

The workshop lasts for 3 hours: 10.00−13.00

Claire Huber, Stalin Blake: LISTENING AND COMPOSITION

The workshop will be conducted in English.

In this workshop, participants will explore the collective process of "listening" as a fundamental element of creation. Listening goes beyond merely opening our ears; it is a mode of perception that is attentive and receptive, reaching towards what is not immediately apparent. It involves suspending preconceptions and focusing on singularities and differences.

Throughout the workshop, participants will refine their auditory and sensory awareness through physical exercises. They will explore rhythms and sounds, experiencing how these influence performance, dance, vocalization, and spatial-temporal orientation. Each rhythm embodies a unique way of existing in the world, which will be explored further in the following day’s presentations.

Participants will also contemplate the distinctions between "making" and "listening." The goal is to explore creative processes collectively, free from rigid methodologies or predefined outcomes, and instead nurture the essence of "what is." This approach embraces an ethic of valuing diversity: avoiding premature imposition of concepts onto their work and allowing affective responses to emerge naturally from their engagement with the creative process.

The workshop can take various forms depending on the participants, whether they are students, artists in performing arts, music, literature, or dramaturgy, or a broader audience.

Claire Huber’s work merges oral poetry, choreography, sound, and music into intimate "living poems." She studied philosophy at E.H.E.S.S. in Paris and choreography at Tanzfabrik in Berlin and P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. Her extensive travels, especially in Western Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East, inspired her interest in orality and the expressive body. She has lived and collaborated with artists in Paris, Berlin, Athens, Ireland, Lisbon, and Brussels. In 2020, she founded "Inflexions," an artistic platform for research and creation in scenic poetry, music, sound, and choreography, emphasizing experimentation and new forms. She has led workshops on "sound dramaturgies" and "rhythms in choreographic composition." Her work includes stage pieces like As We Drove Short Short Horizon-Lines, And Then We Knew It Was Wind in Athens, and The Uncontrollable Mystery on the Bestial Floor in Ireland. In 2024, she will create No.oN, a scenic poem about the "body that says no." Her work has toured Europe and received support from Creative Europe, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, W.B.I., Flemish Community, Goethe Institute, Institut Français, and Teatroskop.

Stalin Blake is a Kurdish musician, guitarist, and singer born in northern Syria. He learned music "by ear" and through oral transmission from a very early age. After moving to Damascus, he studied classical guitar at the Russian Academy and flamenco at the Spanish Embassy. In his first group, Azadi, he composed music without scores, fusing traditional Kurdish melodies with gypsy, flamenco, and blues influences. He became interested in how sound affects movement, particularly walking. Stateless in Syria due to his Kurdish origin, Blake embarked on a long journey to Belgium nearly twelve years ago and became Belgian in 2023. He performs everywhere, from the streets to renowned concert halls such as Beursschouwburg, Ancienne Belgique, KVS, VK, and Muziekpublique. He also creates music for theater pieces, including those at Bronks, Centre Bruegel, and Théâtre Océan Nord. His improvisational work led him to contemporary dance, where he found an immediate affinity, and he has notably collaborated with Claire Huber on the piece As We Drove Short Short Horizon-Lines.