CLINTON STRINGER (SA) & JUSTIN F. KENNEDY (VI/DE) – Mechanisms of the Musical and Beyond!

CONTENT //
Building from research Liz Kinoshota began in 2013, we will focus on vocal practices and musicality as they relate to contemporary dance, via thorough warm-up exercises, instant composition, writing with time for reflection, playing with harmony and percussive accents. We will pair the results of these explorations with physical propositions, in trios, duets, and solos, to be explored through participants own aesthetics. Justin will share their practice of Auto-mythologizing: a stream of research on durational dance and the experience and analysis of altered states of consciousness and their further translatability into live performance. Auto-mythologizing arrises when the practice is so deeply embodied that it becomes second nature or automatic. The myth-making emerges after physical exercises, when participants exchange stories, archetypes, and impressions without judgement or hierarchy. Lucidity is an essential aspect of the work and only arises once the participants have exhausted their constraints and habits.

ACCESSIBILITY //
We will start by warming-up our bodies and voices. You don’t have to have previous vocal practice to be able to take part! We will then move to scores for solo, duo, and trio work, at times in contact if health regulations and communal feeling in the room allow. These proposals may include floor work, balance, tension, and abandon. We will play with writing music through game structures together and with solo moments for reflective writing. We will get into longer durational exercises prompted by images, tasks and movement qualities. Participants will exchange stories, archetypes, and impressions without judgement nor hierarchy. We will work on exhausting constraints and habits. Instructions are given verbally and are followed by demonstrations in most cases. The pace can be adapted to facilitate participants needs.

BIOS //
Clinton Stringer was born and raised in South Africa. In 2000, Clinton joined Rosas (Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker). Over the course of nine years he was involved in many creations and restaging of repertoire pieces including Rain, Drumming, April Me, Raga for the Rainy Season, Mozart Concert Arias and Bitches Brew. In 2011 and 2014, he was involved in the restaging of Rain at the Opéra de Paris. Freelance dance projects include Dancesmith (2013) with Mark Lorimer and Cynthia Loemij; Volcano (2014) and You Can’t Take it With You (2017) with Liz Kinoshita; Gerhard Richter (2017) with Mårten Spångberg and To Come Extended (2017) with Mette Ingvartsen. Clinton has also taught technique and masterclasses at P.A.R.T.S., the Opera de Lyon, the Opéra de Paris, the Vienna State Ballet, the Danish National School of Performing Arts and the University of the Arts (Philadelphia). In 2019-2020, he was Associate Choreographer of the West Side Story revival on Broadway assisting Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, and he continues collaborating with Rosas.

Justin F. Kennedy is a dance/vocal artist originally from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. Their research evolves from experiences and analysis of trance dance and its translatability into workshops, science fiction operas, durational dance installations and film. Justin’s projects of late include Some Murder Theatre in Here (2020), UNFURL (2020) and SPUR: a fashion western (2021). They have performed intimately with and for Emma Howes, Ligia Lewis, Louis Vuitton, Tino Sehgal, Adam Linder, Liz Kinoshita, Peaches.