MMDD PROJECT DESCRIPTION

„More than ever, there is a need for critical refection that interprets the work of artists today in its social and cultural context; more than ever, the world needs a diferentiation of points of view, raising awareness of the existing paradoxes and contradictions, a diferent view of reality. Artists can help us read the world, decipher its complexity. One of the means at their disposal is to make use of dramaturgy in all the diferent forms that it can take.” – Marianne Van Kerkhoven

Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance (MMDD) is a three-year-long European research and training project, that brought together six leading contemporary dance organisations: Anghiari Dance Hub and Marche Teatro from Italy, Bora Bora Dance and Visual Theater from Denmark, Dance House Lemesos from Cyprus, DansBrabant from the Netherlands and Tanec Praha from the Czech Republic to explore and develop through exchange and collaboration dance dramaturgy as a creative and socially conscious practice. Initiated by Gerarda Ventura and Guy Cools, the project has been developed and collaboratively led by the partner organisations, coordinated by Tanec Praha and curated by dramaturgs Maja Hriešik, Katalin Trencsényi, Anne-Marije van den Bersselaar and Guy Cools with dancer, choreographer and curator, Alexis Vassiliou. The curators were responsible for planning, developing and facilitating the programme in close collaboration with the artistic directors of each venue. The aim of the project was to develop skills in micro dramaturgy which is the temporal-spatial composition of the actual performance and strategies that inform the creative process. At the same time, it also focussed on macro dramaturgy, that is to say how the artists relate to the society within which they operate and how dramaturgical strategies and methodologies can be transferable outside the domain of dance. The project’s longer-term objective was to develop contemporary dance and dramaturgy as critical tools to respond to and work with local communities and enable social cohesion. The project provided an opportunity for dramaturgs and choreographers working in these fve countries (the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands) for professional development and exchange. This was ofered in the form of workshops, seminars, and collaborative explorations with support from leading professionals, within the framework of two, ten-day residencies organised each year (one in the spring and one in the autumn). The residencies also provided opportunities for the artists to engage with the local scene of the hosting organisation as well as the wider public to participate. The project concluded with a two-day-long presentation in Prague to share the fndings with the general public and encourage further thinking about and developing the feld together.