DANCE DNA

An intracultural choreographic process and teaching tool for traditional dance artists to explore their traditions and innovate from somatic and visceral embodiment.

process overview

Distillation - Triggers - Self-Testing - Finding Pathways

The key focus of Dance DNA is to locate visceral nature of the dance form in the body.

It distils traditional dance to examine deeply the inherent cultural knowledges; memory, imagery, vocals, language, music, rhythmic patterns. Dance DNA locates ‘trigger points’ where an impulse begins from and generates a visceral response, sensation or feeling.

Dance DNA is non-scientific and it that refers to a dancers’ dance ancestry, which may be interconnected with their cultural and personal ancestry, but it also may not.

Dance DNA has been developed in collaboration with dance practitioners in Bharatanatyam, Flamenco, South Chinese Dance, Torres Strait Island (Indigenous) and more broadly with artists from Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Latin America. Researching the process with actors, puppeteers, ballet and contemporary dancers, hip hop artists has been ongoing but not consistent.

Dance DNA workshops and artistic exchanges have been held at World Dance Alliance 2014 (France), Maya Dance Company (Singapore), Gati Studios (India), Rimbun Dahan (Malaysia), Cecil St Studios (Melbourne) and Critical Path (Sydney).

DANCER’S OWN WORDS

RUBY JAYASEELAN

Bharatanatyam artist, Singapore

creates new pathways with the essence of the traditional practice as a strong grip

“I believe strongly that this Dance DNA process has become a clear and concise method that can be used by various dancers of different cultural practices. It has made me understand Bharathanatyam in a deeper way, with growth in somatic understanding. This tool helps in avoiding the ‘cut and paste’ method and instead creates new pathways with the essence of the traditional practice as a strong grip. A hybrid form is created whilst maintaining the honesty and dignity of the original forms. Contemporary performance using traditional movement can be negotiated and elevated with ease with Dance DNA process as it provides an instinctive hold on the traditional practice beyond physical movement. The deeper understanding of where the ‘essence’ lies is profound, which helps in dynamic and organic choreographic development.”

KAR KAH CHAN

Chinese dance artist, Malaysia

very organic way to emphasize what we found… and the philosophy of our own

“The process in this Dance DNA research for me is very intriguing, it definitely helped me to have different visions while we talk about concepts. It has given me new possibilities to create a more logical method for my choreographic practice and my personal practice in Chinese contemporary dance. Through finding the triggers of our traditional dance I found the difference between (Chinese) classical and contemporary aesthetics, it's a very organic way to emphasise what we found and by that everything turns out to be logical when we analyse and dissect the movements and the philosophy of our own. This Dance DNA method is forward looking and definitely is what I would like to continue to discover movements for my practice.”

GOVIND PILLAI

Bharatanatyam artist, Australia

very compelling alternative to contemporary choreographic development

“Reflecting on the experiences of working with Annalouise through the Dance DNA method, they have had a profound impact on me in three ways – they have (a) increased my understanding and awareness of my own traditional practise (b) informed and enhanced my teaching practise; and (c) helped me to explore and extend my traditional practise to a contemporary place in ways that are highly connected and informed by my traditional practise.”

“A key component of the Dance DNA method is personal and cultural introspection, to arrive at a point where the practitioner is able to identify the key ‘trigger point’ movements of their traditional dance. Dancers working within traditional (and particular ancient) dance practises are often taught how to do movements in accordance with a strict idea of form, but beneath and within this form is an incredibly vast and potent series of trigger points and movement DNA that it is not easy to understand or teach without a process such as the Dance DNA process, and someone to lead and carry the dancer/student through the self-discovery process of Dance DNA work.”

“The idea being that the practitioner can then in some way integrate contemporary approaches into their practise in some way on their own. This is not only challenging, but also controversial as there is a lot of spirituality, history, cultural protocol embedded in traditional dance that makes it tricky to navigate. Encountering the Dance DNA method through Annalouise Paul was refreshing and provides a very compelling alternative to contemporary choreographic development for artists from a traditional dance background. It starts from a traditional and comfortable (known) place, but then pushes and challenges the practitioner to extend, explore and create in ways that are still strongly grounded in the physio-spiritual core of the dancers’ DNA but opens up new possibilities in compelling ways.”

YASMINE HILTON

Flamenco artist, Australia

how to listen to what my body wants to do and follow where it wants to go

“I spent a day in the studio, with Annalouise guiding me through her Dance DNA process. The process helped me to recognise the essential elements of my dancing, to strip away the extraneous and so begin to create new, more personal movement from there. I felt the movement that emerged from this session was often quieter and more profound, it seemed to work its way outward from an internal centre, rippling up to the surface of my body. I believe this process results in the dancer becoming more aware of where movement originates in her own body, and as this internal/external connection becomes more intrinsic to my movement the response time between the internal source of the movement and its expression will become more instantaneous and the movements more varied, but in that initial session I had to listen carefully to hear where my body was guiding me. The process has shown me how to listen to what my body wants to do and follow where it wants to go; my Flamenco body, but also my own unique body within Flamenco. I feel this process would be of great benefit to other dancers in my company in the creation of new contemporary Flamenco work.”