superficially, internally, overtly, covertly, inherently, embodied, consciously, subconsciously, implicitly? Is dramaturgy then what we don’t know that we know? Perhaps, we might never know. n What remains of the dramaturgy? It remains inside the bones of the performance, the marrow, the DNA and the genealogy. It remains in the memory of those exposed to its effect. I want to describe the dramaturgy. But which one? There are so many dramaturgies that go into the life of a performance. You can call out the macro dramaturgy if you like – call it like you see it, like you can explain it. You can call out the meta dramaturgy if you like, the dramaturgy that calls attention to itself, allows us to follow and wind with it. Then the anthropological question: From where and how do you, as dramaturg speak? From anything you can wrap your hands on. WHAT OR WHO IS AN INVISIBLE DRAMATURG? Someone small in stature, relatively unremarkable in appearance, perhaps. Someone of the grey persuasion, perhaps. Someone of the female type more likely. Someone accustomed to speaking up, staying silent, to calling it
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WOMEN’S WORK CRITICAL PATH
out, and letting it lie. Someone on call and call and call. Someone who might not be asked. Someone who can piece together disparate pieces. Who connects dots that are not even close by. Who remembers things long forgotten. Who makes piles of notes and gives them out into the abyss of information that participants are coping with – but gives them out anyway. Someone who can fade into the background when things are going tough, when there is a struggle happening that they can’t solve; who can fade into the background but still be there. Someone who can navigate the scene from the outside – or at least pretend that they can: the situation is schizophrenic. But I hear that ‘you need specialist knowledge’. Sure, maybe – the speciality comes from curiosity – questioning begets knowledge. If anyone needs to be curious, it’s the dramaturg. The choreographer is creative, the dancers are magnificent, the designer is gifted, the musician is a magician, but you are curious. Curious about your own seeing and feeling and knowledge. Oh, and …
PART THREE THE WORK OF DANCE
HOW DO YOU WORK DRAMATURGICALLY? As invisibly as possible.
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WOMEN’S WORK CRITICAL PATH
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