After the exchange with South Korea in 2009 this second edition of BEYOND focuses on China and the Chinese contemporary dance and art scene. It will look at different approaches of dance creation from practical as well as theoretical perspectives. The aim is to inform participants on different forms of body preparation and creation through the use of several Asian martial arts, as well as on some of the latest European developments around dance transmission and creation. Do tradition and innovation play a role within the creative process? How do cultural backgrounds affect its choices and structures? Are some of the questions that will be addressed in the frame of the BEYOND_China programme.

Following the previous format of BEYOND _ Seoul, the programme will be divided in two main sections of three weeks each, one in China (Beijing and Shanghai) and one in the Netherlands (Amsterdam).  

During the first phase in China the physical preparation Double Skin/Double Mind developed by Emio Greco | PC and the ancient martial arts of Yi Quan, will be the basic material for participants to prepare the body and investigate movement. The creative work of Indian choreographer and artistic director of Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts Jayachandran Palazhy will provide an insight into the creation of movement material for contemporary dance, departing from the ancient and traditional martial art Kalarippayattu. The improvisation system developed by William Forsythe under the new media title Improvisation Technologies presented by Nik Haffner, will serve as a tool for the development of structures and compositions.

These workshops will be accompanied by lectures on dance dramaturgy and creative process and by dinner discussions with artist from the Chinese contemporary arts scene, moderated by the Chinese dance critic and researcher Qing Qing. All of these activities will eventually find its way to the creative lab where dancers, selected by the partner institutes of BEYOND_China, can test and challenge their own creativity. They are guided by the young and promising Chinese choreographer Nunu Kong. The result of the first three weeks will be presented to a large public at the theatre of the Dutch Culture Centre.

The partners of BEYOND_China that have selected the dancers are: Coachangdi Workstation (Beijing,China), Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts (Bangalore, India), Jin Xing Dance Theatre (Shanghai, China), Guangdong Modern Dance Company (Guangzhou, China), Arts Council Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), Borneoco (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and Emio Greco | PC (Amsterdam, the Netherlands).  

All workshops are open for dancers, choreographers and dance students and artists and students from other disciplines with interest in the moving body. Registration for the workshops in Beijing  will be done by Caochangdi Workstation and in Shanghai by CANART. For the workshops in Amsterdam ICKamsterdam will take care of the registrations.

How does the dancing body reveal its cultural context?

The multi-annual project BEYOND, that kicked off in February 2009, is a growing network inspired by the ongoing dialogue between ICKamsterdam and its artistic directors Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten and several Asian artists and institutions. Established through the last years of extensive touring and educational exchange of ICKamsterdam and dance company Emio Greco | PC, these contacts are now being further explored.

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