Animal Becoming
In this re-enactment, I explore the concept of transformation – specifically the transformations that take place between the human and the animal. It is assumed that both play and dance improvisation trigger novel sense-making capabilities by a deep engagement with the environment (Paolo, 2007). Both activities give rise to transformative forces, ways of becoming that create openings and passages through which one re-engages and re-connects with the environment. In the first phase of this artistic project I recorded a spontaneous play event of my 12th year old daughter. Her play serves as an entrance point to examine animal becomings as transformative forces. In the second phase I re-enact the animal becomings of my daughter through an improvised dance solo. The aim is to grasp, in a corporeal sense, the transformative forces that are at work here.
Published in:Hermans, C. (2019). Becoming Animal: Childrens’ Physical play and Dance improvisation as Transformative Activities that Generate Novel Meanings. Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 11(2), 157-175. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jdsp_00003_1
Carolien Hermans and Lisa Scheers.
Animal Becoming Dance: 18 November 2018
Re-Enactment:March 2019, Conservatory of Amsterdam
On a Sunday morning, Lisa lounges on the blue carpet in our living room, still and motionless. Suddenly, she begins to move spontaneously, starting with rolls and stretches. As she plays, she discovers a soft blanket, incorporating it into her activities. Declaring herself a bird, she runs and “flies,” exhausting her movements before landing back on the carpet. Imagining water, she wonders aloud what happens when she touches it, answering her own query by transforming into a fish, utilizing the blanket to enhance her portrayal. Continuously wrapped in the blanket, she embodies the characteristics of a fish, swimming and diving with ease. Accidentally rolling off the carpet, she identifies the floor as “earth” and transforms into a mole, then later into a beaver upon touching wood.
Within a brief span of 15 minutes, Lisa undergoes a series of transformations, transitioning from bird to fish, mole, and finally, beaver. Drawing from Deleuze and Guattari's concept of becoming, this process involves the detachment of elements from their original functions, allowing new functions to emerge. By adopting animal traits, Lisa enters a realm of fluidity, rather than imitating animals, suggesting a sensitivity towards animal becomings commonly observed in children. Her goal isn't merely to mimic animals but to explore an intermediate zone, freeing herself from fixed forms and embracing a state of proximity to various animal states.
The becoming animal is a process that is fuelled by desire, by a longing for proximity and sharing (Brown 2007) and a drive to participate in otherness. Becoming animal is a bodily experience: Lisa senses the presence of the animal; she uses her embodied sensitivity together with her imagination to creatively engage with the animal.
Furthermore, Lisa's heightened sensitivity to her surroundings is evident. As she embodies the role of a bird, she gracefully flies through the air, employing the blanket as a makeshift wing. Upon completing this action, she descends onto the blue carpet. It's the distinct hue of the carpet that prompts her transition into a fish-like state. This observation highlights how environmental cues trigger animal transformations.
In this context, it wouldn't be accurate to suggest that Lisa alone undergoes the transformation into a fish. Rather, it's a collective experience involving Lisa, the blue carpet, and the blanket. This interconnectedness between the individual, the environment, and the objects around them results in what Manning (2009) describes as “relational shape shifting.” Here, the boundaries between body and surroundings blur, highlighting the lively interaction between Lisa, the blue carpet, and the blanket.
Lisa’s physical play event is captured in a series of images. These images serve as an entrance point for my improvised dance solo. The aim is to return to initially felt forces/sensibilities that were present in the physical play events of Lisa, and that are then re-enacted in dance improvisational practice. Re-enactment should be understood here not as imitation but as the embodied actualization of Lisa’s play. The aim of this re-enactment is to identify ‘non-exhausted creative fields of impalpable possibilities’ (Lepecki 2010: 31). Through re-enactment I want to unlock and grasp the virtual possibilities that are present in the imagery – squeezing out actuals from the virtual as they shape my body in an ongoing movement (Lepecki 2010).
I develop the improvised solo at the theatre of the Conservatory of Amsterdam. The theatrical setting, specifically the lightning, helps me to engage with the imagery of Lisa’s play event. The shadows and the sharp contrasts between light and shadow bring a certain kind of atmosphere and performativity to the space. Devoid of any daily functionality, the space becomes a zone for experimentation and exploration. The theatre triggers a sense of performativity in me – a state of heightened attentiveness. I notice how I start to ‘stage’ my movements, carefully placing them in space: the head here, my hand over there as if the space is looking at me. The imaginary easily slips in. Tiny shifts in movements awaken tiny shifts in imagery in me.
In conclusion, several elements can be distinguished in the re-enactment of Lisa’s play event. First of all, the theatre (specifically the lights and its emptiness) triggers a sense of performativity in me, as I am well aware of staging the movements. Second, the body + blanket connection allows me to access animal imagery. The blanket covers my head: it allows me to experience imagery in a sensorimotor way. Third, I allow myself to deviate from the new constraints that emerge in Lisa’s play since there seems no reason to stick to outer cues. Fourth, although I take Lisa’s four animals as an initial starting point, other animal actualizations come into being too. Finally, words are used to help bring about the connection between imagery and the kinetic-kinaesthetic.