This workshop will introduce Myriam’s system of body training focussed on respiratory techniques and her use of digital scoring in composition. “When composing and writing my choreographic scores, I use abstract processes and data. I sit at my table and I write in a language that I have been developing since 2002, it’s inspired by Laban cinetography, but is aimed at creating, rather than transcribing, a dance already in existence. What I write for the choreographic composition is constantly evolving, because each piece is structured around a specific environment built on a global vision of the project. I make a collection of concepts that I consider to be connected with my aims, and from those elements I then develop a glossary and then a score. The composition consists in decoding the information contained in the data collected, the relationships between them, and their possible articulations. It’s all about listening, observing, and trying to understand what is at work inside the environment in place.”
Previously the director of the Center for Choreographic Research and Composition (CRCC) at the Royaumont Foundation near Paris, Myriam Gourfink is a leading figure in choreographic research in France. She has featured as guest speaker at numerous international festivals.