[Eng][中]微觀及宏觀舞蹈劇場構作
文：Guy Cools
翻譯：Pomny Au
比利時法蘭德斯劇場構作家Marianne Van Kerkhoven無疑是西方舞蹈劇場構作的教母之一。三十多年來，她的著作一直是國際學術討論的其中一個主要參考依據。她將概念劇場構作（conceptual dramaturgy）及開放劇場構作（open dramaturgy）區分為互補的兩極。概念劇場構作強調預先計劃，而開放劇場構作則讓創作過程循序漸進，這常常被用來探討劇場構作在當代表演藝術實踐中的潛在角色。她視劇場構作作為開放、以過程為主導，這觀念可被視為一種重要的研究方法，因為它伴隨的探索過程既肯定已知及未知，讓意義及結構從中浮現，而非強加於其中。
近期，Van Kerkhoven提出另一個區別：微觀及宏觀劇場構作（micro and macro dramaturgy）的互補概念，被實踐者及學者廣泛引用。詞彙的翻譯歷史值得我們反思，在兩篇荷蘭原文上，她介紹這兩個劇場構作術語時，使用了「kleine」及「grote」，分別直譯為「小」（Small）及「大」（Large）。目前為止，只有其中一篇文章被翻譯成英文——她於1994年的年度Theaterfestival的演講「劇院在城市裡，城市在世界裡，而其外牆則是其皮膚。」，當時的譯文使用了「次要」（Minor）及「主要」（Major）的字眼。直到近年的討論才引入了「微觀」（Minor）及「宏觀」（Macro），因為這兩個詞彙在不同又互聯的劇場構作實踐之間建立較為橫向和平等的關係。
根據Van Kerkhoven的說法，微觀劇場構作是「圍繞具體製作的劇場構作」，而宏觀劇場構作則處理「劇場的社會意義以及功能」。她認為劇場構作家經常嘗試在微觀與宏觀之間搭建橋樑，因此支持藝術家以他們的方式去「幫助我們理解世界及解讀其複雜性。」（Van Kerkhoven，1999）
在2018年，意大利Anghiari Dance Hub的藝術總監Gerarda Ventura與我聯繫，希望構思一個歐洲計劃，給予年輕劇場構作家支持和實踐的工具，讓他們進一步實踐，同時提高對舞蹈劇場構作專業的認識。我們尋找歐洲不同國家的伙伴機構合作，最終有六個組織共同籌劃該項目，包括丹麥的Bora Bora、荷蘭的Dans Brabant、塞浦路斯的Dance House Lemesos、意大利的Anghiari Dance Hub和Marche Teatro，以及捷克共和國的Tanec Praha，並獲得歐洲聯盟的資助而展開為期三年（1）的路。
一眾劇場構作家分享舞蹈劇場構作的想法Performing dramaturgies shared thinking about dramaturgy in dance／攝Photo: Nela Wojaczková（照片由Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance提供 Photo provided by Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance)
同時，我邀請了三位同事——Maja Hriešik、Katalin Trencsényi、Anne-Marije van den Bersselaar，以及後來加入的Alexis Vassiliou，在不同國家及社區中共同策展了駐留研究計劃。我們將計劃命名為「微觀及宏觀的舞蹈劇場構作」，因為我們的目標是在參與者的微觀劇場構作的實踐中，與我們現正處於的歷史、社會、政治背景之間建立富有意義的聯繫。
每年，合作伙伴機構選出十位參與者進行兩個為期十天的駐留計劃，當中包括工作坊、研討會、合作探索等等。第一個駐留計劃在意大利舉行 ，主題是「共同編織自我、表演及社區」，焦點落在Eugenio Barba對劇場構作的定義：「編織動作在一起」。計劃不但連繫安吉亞里歷史悠久的紡織產業，並且研究如何從宏觀劇場構作的角度支援波爾韋里吉的社群建立，後者在荷蘭蒂爾堡的駐留計劃中得到進一步的發展和深化，其主題為「存在於此——關懷的環境」。駐留計劃發展在本地合作伙伴的現有計劃之上，透過舞蹈探索城市的社會結構及裂痕。劇場構作從支持表演創作的實踐擴展到想像並創造更大的「關懷」生態環境。
第二年，駐留計劃在丹麥奧胡斯及捷克布拉格舉行，主題分別是「不安的劇場構作」及「細心的劇場構作」。澳洲劇場構作家Ruth Little將劇場構作定義為創作具意義的模式，同時也是除去模式的實踐。在奧胡斯的駐留計劃研究劇場構作作為一種批判性實踐，質疑甚至打破現存的模式，並提供變革的替代方案。「細心的劇場構作」聚焦於劇場構作家的存在作為創作過程中的「目擊者及共存者」（with-ness），如何預示著觀眾的存在，通過培養我們的專注力與意識，同時亦培養出我們對工作和世界的「反應及責任」（respons-ability）。
在我的劇場構作實踐當中，我一向將劇場構作定義為一種以對話為基礎的實踐，參與者在平等的基礎上交流，意義便從所有參與者的個人言論之間浮現（Cools，2019）。因此，從一開始，微觀和宏觀劇場構作計劃便以點對點的方式進行研究和交流，不存在任何機構、策展團隊和參與者間的階級觀念。隨著計劃的發展，參與者將擁有更多權力自行定義內容。
Anghiari Dance Hub／攝Photo：Francesco Dejaco（照片由Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance提供 Photo provided by Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance)
組織這個計劃本身就是一個複雜的宏觀劇場構作過程。當中需要捍衛的是劇場構作作為一種有價值的批判性研究實踐的自主性，而非僅僅為演出製作及其市場價值做出貢獻的工具性目的。
最後，計劃成功達成目標，創建了一個平台讓不同世代的劇場構作家認識及交流，並促進了劇場構作實踐的日趨多元化，詳情紀錄在計劃網頁MICRO AND MACRO DRAMATURGIES IN DANCE | MMDD (dancedramaturgies.eu) ，以及公開的術語詞彙表The ABC of Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance, an open-access glossary | MMDD (dancedramaturgies.eu)。網站由本計劃的組織、策劃人員以及參與者共同撰寫，同時也鞏固了Van Kerkhoven區分微觀及宏觀劇場構作兩者的實用性，作為探討當代劇場構作的參考框架。
注釋：
（1）計劃得到為期兩年的資助，但因疫情而花了三年完成。
（2）由於疫情期間仍實施旅遊限制，第一個駐留計劃以遙距及面對面的混合模式進行。
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Guy Cools
是比利時舞蹈劇場構作家。從1990至2002年，他為比利時根特的Arts Centre Vooruit策劃舞蹈節目。他以劇場構作家的身份與Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui（比利時）、Akram Khan（英國）及Arno Schuitemaker（荷蘭）合作過。過去出版作品包括In-between Dance Cultures: on the migratory artistic identity of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Akram Khan（2015）；Imaginative Bodies, dialogues in performance practices（2016），以及Performing Mourning. Laments in Contemporary Art（2021）。Cools亦是加拿大蒙特利爾UQAM舞蹈學院的教授。
Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance
Text: Guy Cools
Flemish dramaturg Marianne Van Kerkhoven is without any doubt one of the godmothers of occidental dance dramaturgy. For more than 30 years, her writings on the subject have been one of the main touchstones and references for the ever-expanding international discourse on the subject. Van Kerkhoven’s distinction between conceptual dramaturgy and open dramaturgy as two complementary poles of a spectrum in which dramaturgy either premeditates or follows the creative process has been often used to discuss contemporary performing art practices and the potential role of dramaturgy in accompanying them. Her notion of open, process-oriented dramaturgy can easily be understood as a valuable research methodology, as it accompanies a process of discovery that validates the unknown as much as the known and allows for meaning and structure to emerge rather than to impose them.
More recently, another distinction made by Van Kerkhoven has been referenced frequently by both practitioners and academics: the complementary notions of micro and macro dramaturgy. It is worth reflecting for a moment on the translation history of these terms. In the two original Dutch texts in which Van Kerkhoven introduced this distinction, she used the terms ‘kleine’ and ‘grote’ dramaturgy, which literally translates as ‘small’ and ‘large’. Up until now only one of these texts, her state of the union address at the annual Theaterfestival in 1994, The theatre is in the city and the city is in the world and its walls are of skin, has been translated into English and that original translation used the terms ‘minor’ and ‘major’. It is only in a more recent discourse that the terms ‘micro’ and ‘macro’ were introduced as they establish a less hierarchical, more horizontal relationship between different, interconnected levels of practicing dramaturgy.
In the words of Van Kerkhoven, micro dramaturgy is ‘the dramaturgy that situates itself around a concrete production’; while macro dramaturgy deals with ‘the social relevance and function of the theatre’. For Van Kerkhoven, the dramaturg always tries to build bridges between the micro and the macro, and thus supports artists in their attempts ‘to help us read the world and to decipher its complexities.’ (Van Kerkhoven, 1999)
Anghiari Dance Hub／攝Photo：Francesco Dejaco（照片由Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance提供 Photo provided by Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance)
In 2018, I was approached by Gerarda Ventura, the artistic director of Anghiari Dance Hub in Italy, to conceptualize a European project that would give a younger generation of dramaturgs practical tools and support to develop their practice and would also create a wider awareness of the value of the profession of dance dramaturg. Together with Gerarda we approached partner organizations in different European countries to co-organize the project and eventually six of them – Bora Bora in Denmark; Dans Brabant in Holland; Dance House Lemesos in Cyprus; Anghiari Dance Hub and Marche Teatro in Italy; and Tanec Praha in Czech Republic – embarked on a three year (1) long trajectory for which funding was obtained from the European Union.
Parallel to this I invited three colleagues – Maja Hriešik, Katalin Trenscéyni and Anne-Marije van den Bersselaar, who were later joined by Alexis Vassiliou – to co-curate with me the research residencies that took place in the different countries and participating communities. As a title for the project we chose Micro and Macro dramaturgies in dance because our aim was to create meaningful links between the micro dramaturgical practices of the participants and the larger historical, social and political contexts of the places we were working in.
Each year, ten participants, selected by the partner organizations, met for two 10-day residencies which consisted of workshops, seminars, and collaborative explorations. The theme of the first residency, which was planned to take place in Italy (2), was Weaving together the self, the performance, the community. Focusing on Eugenio Barba’s definition of dramaturgy as the ‘weaving together of actions’, it made links with the historical textile industry that existed in Anghiari and also looked into how a macro dramaturgical perspective could support the building of communities in Polverigi. The latter idea was further developed and deepened during the residency in Tilburg, with the theme Being There – the environment of care. The residency built on an existing project of the local partner on how to explore the social fabric of the city, as well as its ruptures, through dance. Dramaturgy was expanded from a practice to support the creation of performances to imagining and creating larger ecological environments of ‘care’.
The second year the residencies took place in Aarhus, where the theme was Disturbing Dramaturgies and in Prague with Attentive Dramaturgies. The Australian dramaturg Ruth Little has defined dramaturgy as a practice of creating meaningful patterns but also undoing them. The Aarhus residency looked at dramaturgy as a critical practice that questions and even disrupts existing patterns and offers alternatives for change. Attentive Dramaturgies focused on how the presence of the dramaturg as a ‘with-ness’ of the creative process prefigures the presence of an audience. How by cultivating our attention and awareness, we also cultivate our ‘respons-ability’ to work and the world.
In my own dramaturgical practice, I have always defined dramaturgy as a dialogue-based practice, in which meaning emerges from the ‘in-between’ of the individual utterances of all participants, who meet on a basis of equality (Cools 2019). As such it was clear from the outset that the micro and macro dramaturgies project would organize research and exchange on a peer-to-peer basis without any hierarchies between the organizing institutions, the curatorial team and the participants. As the project developed, the latter got more and more agency to define the content themselves.
The organization of the project was itself a complex, macro-dramaturgical process in which the autonomy of dramaturgy as a valuable critical research practice needed to be defended against a more instrumental vision where dramaturgy merely contributes to the production and market value of a performance.
In the end, the project accomplished its goals, to create a platform for different generations of dramaturgs to meet and exchange and to promote the growing diversity of dramaturgical practices, which are documented on the project’s website - MICRO AND MACRO DRAMATURGIES IN DANCE | MMDD (dancedramaturgies.eu) and in the open-access glossary - The ABC of Micro and Macro Dramaturgies in Dance, an open-access glossary | MMDD (dancedramaturgies.eu) which was co-written by everyone involved: organizers, curators and participants. It also consolidated the relevance of Van Kerkhoven’s distinction between micro and macro dramaturgy as a frame of reference to discuss contemporary dramaturgy.
Notes:
(1) The project got funding for two years, but due to the pandemic it took three years to complete it.
(2) As there were still travel restrictions in place due to the pandemic, the first residency took place in a hybrid remote and in-person format.
Bibliography:
Cools, G. (2019), On Dance Dramaturgy, in: CENA, no. 29, pp. 42-52.
Van Kerkhoven, M. (1999), Van de kleine en de grote dramaturgie. in: Etcetera 17, no. 68, 67-69.
Van Kerkhoven, M. (1997), Le processus dramaturgique, in: Nouvelles de Danse, Dossier Danse et Dramaturgie, nr. 31, 18–25.
Van Kerkhoven, M. (1994b), Writing without a pencil in the hand, in: Theaterschrift 5–6, On Dramaturgy, 140-148.
Van Kerkhoven, M. (1994a), Het theater ligt in de stad en de stad ligt in de wereld en de wanden zijn van huid. in: Etcetera 12, no. 46, 7-9.
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Guy Cools
is a Belgian dance dramaturg. From 1990 to 2002 he curated the danceprogramme of
Arts Centre Vooruit in Ghent, Belgium. As a dramaturg, he has worked with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (BE),
Akram Khan (UK) and Arno Schuitemaker (NL). His publications include In-between Dance Cultures:
on the migratory artistic identity of Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Akram Khan (2015); Imaginative Bodies,
dialogues in performance practices (2016) and Performing Mourning. Laments in Contemporary Art.
(2021). Cools is a regular professor in the dance department of UQAM, Montréal, Canada.
