Type: Presentation / Performance / Conversation
Date: 25 May 2019
Context: The Whole Life: Archives and Reality, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
Institution: Pina Bausch Foundation
Role: Presenter / Researcher
Participants:
Barbara Kaufmann
Azusa Seyama
Marc Wagenbach
Ismaël Dia
Ricardo Viviani
[im]materiality explored the difficulty of documenting and transmitting dance, an art form whose primary expression is ephemeral and performative. Presented by the Pina Bausch Archives within the congress The Whole Life: Archives and Reality at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Dresden, the contribution combined a live rehearsal, conversation and video material.
The presentation began with a live rehearsal of a solo from Pina Bausch’s Wiesenland, performed by Barbara Kaufmann and Azusa Seyama. The audience was invited to observe a process normally taking place privately in the studio. The rehearsal was followed by a conversation concerning the creation, perception and transmission of the solo, with particular attention to the experiences of the dancers who had created, learned and transmitted the work.
The discussion questioned the assumption that transmitting choreography means transmitting movement alone. It examined what else may pass from one dancer to another: ways of working, practices of knowing, forms of recognition, relationships, anecdotes, identities and understandings of the creative process. It also asked what is inevitably forgotten in each transmission, and what remains inaccessible in physical documentation such as photographs, videos and written records.
Here, embodied knowledge was primarily shown and made perceptible rather than explicitly articulated as a methodology. The live rehearsal provided a situation in which the audience could encounter the transmission of dance as a living practice, while the subsequent discussion began to articulate the questions surrounding what is known, transmitted and lost.
The presentation became an early point of departure for Ricardo Viviani’s continuing investigation into the relationship between Oral History and embodied knowledge. In the following years, this work developed toward approaches in which practitioners are actively guided to find explicit language for aspects of their knowledge that are normally embedded in artistic practice.
The presentation concluded by considering Oral History as a way of opening new perspectives on the complex networks of knowledge surrounding dance practice: who knows what, who knows how, and who knows why.
Archival Material:
Presentation script; audiovisual documentation; related archival material concerning Wiesenland and its transmission.
Post Scriptum — 30 August 2026
This entry is revisited as part of the continuing documentation of the development of research into Oral History and embodied knowledge.
Contribution / Ertrag:
The presentation contributed an early practical and public articulation of questions concerning the transmission of embodied knowledge in dance. By bringing rehearsal, conversation and audiovisual material together, it contributed to the wider Whole Life Project’s investigation of how knowledge is preserved, transmitted and made accessible through archival and oral practices.
Assessment / Relevanz:
The entry is relevant as an early stage in the development of a research approach that would subsequently place greater emphasis on enabling practitioners to articulate forms of knowledge embedded in artistic practice. Its significance within the continuing work lies particularly in the transition from demonstrating embodied knowledge toward developing ways of making such knowledge verbally accessible.
Keywords:
Oral History; embodied knowledge; dance; choreography; transmission; archival practice; Pina Bausch; Wiesenland; documentation; performance; rehearsal; The Whole Life
External Links
The Whole Life: Archives and Reality
The Whole Life: Archives and Reality — Programme Information
Wiesenland — A piece by Pina Bausch
[im]materiality of the Archive — HKW Mediathek
Internal Links
Presentation script
Archival Note: This page forms part of an ongoing personal archive documenting Ricardo Viviani’s professional work and activities over more than four decades. Names and other personal information appear where relevant to the documented work or collaboration. If you believe that information concerning you has been published incorrectly or should be reconsidered, please contact me.