Our research is a collective process, therefore multiplicity of input is crucial to our creative work. In open research sessions we regularly change our perspective from the inside (somatic experience and movement research) to the outside (distance and observation). The findings are then gathered, discussed and analysed by the whole group. This method embodies equal proportions of discussion and practice. By both defining selected physical information and documenting it collectively, we create the movement qualities that form the basis of our work.

We define qualities as sets of very specific movement characteristics that stimulate a somatic response within the spectator. When creating qualities, our aim is to generate a kinaesthetic experience between the dancer and the viewer. These qualities may be applied in any part of the dancer‘s body and are not defined by a specific movement, shape or body part. Thus the qualities serve as the primary material we employ to enable a shared somatic experience between dancer and viewer.

Once we have examined and defined the movement qualities we organize those qualities within a spatial disposition or a somatic logic we call mapping. We further our physical practice by navigating through a landscape of body tensions, transforming from one place and one quality into another. Within the open frame of this method, we strive for co-dependency among the performers and the viewers: performers tune into one another’s physical intensities and also address and respond to the fluctuating condition of the viewing public.

Mapping also provides the time and space to expand upon the range of possibilities of the qualities. For example, generating qualities in single body parts or all over the body at once, producing two qualities simultaneously in one body, layering them or blending them into each other, ornamenting movement qualities. Mapping is a group experience as well an individual journey. It allows us to go through a process of refinement and experimentation. This method is practiced throughout our creation and performance periods.