{"id":277,"date":"2019-10-19T20:48:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-19T20:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/?p=277"},"modified":"2026-06-22T11:25:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:25:35","slug":"movement-through-language-a-reflection-on-the-use-of-spoken-text-in-dance-performances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/20\/movement-through-language-a-reflection-on-the-use-of-spoken-text-in-dance-performances\/","title":{"rendered":"Movement through Language: A Reflection on the Use of Spoken Text in Dance Performances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rosa Lambert<\/strong>*<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Belgian dance scene features many international choreographers whose works explore how spoken text can contribute to the creation of dance. As a consequence, their works reveal the interconnections and affiliations between language and movement. In this essay, Rosa Lambert examines two solo performances by Mette Edvardsen, Black<\/em> (2011) and No Title<\/em> (2014), to demonstrate how a redefinition of dance beyond physical movement is both the subject of contemporary experiments and of recent theoretical reflections.
Keywords: <\/strong>Black, No Title, <\/em>Mette Edvardsen, post-dance, language choreography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Today, the Belgian dance scene is\npopulated by a number of international choreographers whose works push dance\nbeyond its traditional boundaries of physical movement. In the works of Daniel\nLinehan, Mette Edvardsen, Bryana Fritz, Mette Ingvartsen, Eleanor Bauer and\nLouis Vanhaverbeke (amongst others), we can observe an eagerness to explore how\nother materials, such as spoken text, contribute to the creation of dance. In\ncontrast with prevailing assumptions of dance being antithetical to language,[1]<\/sup><\/a> these works reveal the capacity of language to provoke movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this essay, I will focus on two solo performances by Mette Edvardsen, Black <\/em>(2011) and No Title <\/em>(2014), <\/em>to demonstrate how a redefinition of dance beyond physical movement is both the subject of contemporary experiments and of recent theoretical reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 2011, Brussels. Mette Edvardsen enters an empty stage. She puts her hands in front of her, as if she was placing them on a desk. She looks at her hands, cautiously. Pronounces: \u201ctable, table, table, table, table, table, table, table.\u201d She moves one hand to her back: \u201cchair, chair, chair, chair, chair, chair, chair, chair.\u201d[2]<\/sup><\/a> Placing her two hands above her, looking upwards: \u201clamp, lamp, lamp, lamp, lamp, lamp, lamp, lamp.\u201d For the rest of the performance, Edvardsen walks throughout the space, points at invisible objects in the room and makes them appear by naming these objects eight times each. This elegantly simple, rhythmic construction sparks the audience\u2019s imagination. Because the words refer to objects that are not present in the room, they trigger us to construct a mental image of them. This results in an oscillation between reality and imagination: while the objects remain nonexistent, the repetitions help us evoke them in our mind. Paradoxically, the objects appear remarkably present through their absence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 2014, Brussels. Mette Edvardsen enters an empty stage, eyes closed. She stands still, waits for several seconds. Utters: \u201cthe beginning.\u201d She waits for several seconds more: \u201cis gone. The space is empty.\u201d Pause. \u201cAnd gone. The prompter has turned off his reading lamp, and gone.\u201d With her eyes closed during the entire performance, she evokes a variety of things, such as \u201cthe distinction between writing and drawing,\u201d \u201cKrushchev\u2019s cat,\u201d \u201cwaiting in lines,\u201d that are all \u201cgone.\u201d However, pointing at an object\u2019s disappearance does not result in its withdrawal, but rather in its presence. As Edvardsen suggests, \u201cit is not enough to say that something is gone in order to make it disappear\u201d (\u201cDouble-interview\u201d 73). Even though the objects are \u201cgone,\u201d listeners are still triggered to imagine this object. As a result, there is not only an oscillation between reality and imagination (as we see within Black)<\/em>, but there is also a constant oscillation between presence and absence on the level of the text itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video <\/strong>1<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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