Mutism and Mutability / MA research

Mutism and Mutability was produced as a part of Alexandra’s MA in choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Earlier in her MA she made an untitled piece based on research into group improvisation. This was the main score of Mutism and Mutability.

In the score the dancers have three ways of relating to each other; to follow, to take a suggestion or to do their own dance. An important part of the score is to drop or to let go of what you were doing, to then make a new choice of following, take a suggestion or making your own dance. The dancer is asked to not think of the consequence of letting go of what they were doing. Stopping them from stringing the pieces of dance together consciously creating “choreography”. It is a system of behaviourism (not form) that by being repeated would create a choreographic structure.

The starting point for the development of the subject in Mutism and Mutability was the idea of sexy. Not as a personal corporeal expression, but as a sign signifying the common idea about the sexy woman. It was a process of finding out her history and how much were we a part of her. From this exploration a physical and emotional material emerged somewhere in-between the empty impersonal myth of the woman and ourselves real complex woman. The aim was to, through using improvisation as a method, find and define materials that then would be told through the score we had previously explored. The subject of the choreography is subjected to the choreographic rules of the score.

Mutism and Mutability was the first dive into the themes later explored in more depth in Kill a Cat Show.

Mutism and Mutability – ongoing installation for public space
Co-creators Ina Dokmo, Lena Kimming and Rebecka Ohlsson
2010 Performance installation. HBTQ-festival (now West Pride), Göteborg
2008 Performance installation. Tällberg Forums culture program Sweden

Mutism and Mutability
Co-creators Ina Dokmo, Lena Kimming and Rebecka Ohlsson
2008 Unga Tur, Stockholm
2008 ArToll, Germany
2008 Bottna Culture Festival, Tanums kommun
2007 Bonnie Bird Theatre, London

Video documentation of untitled piece, London 2007