Introduction to EDN's inquiry into practices of care and wellbeing in contemporary dance.
Wellbeing for whom?
When we ask: what strategies and skills for health and wellbeing can dance bring to society? we might also ask the question: wellbeing for whom? Very quickly a seemingly simple notion becomes complicated; we realize that perhaps wellbeing is not a fixed ideal but a fluid concept to be sensed in relationship to a multiplicity of different needs. With this reorientation, dance as a practice becomes even more relevant in sourcing and capturing the wisdom of our bodies, bringing us to complex insights and perceptions of need we cannot access through intellect alone. Drawing on examples in co-directing the Performing Arts Laboratory: Culture Mill with Murielle Elizéon, dancer and choreographer Tommy Noonan considers wellbeing not as something simply comprehended and applied strategically through programming and policy, but as an emergent practice to be modeled outwards from how we inhabit our own bodies each day in time, space and relationship.
Tommy Noonan is a director, choreographer, writer and performer currently based in Saxapahaw, North Carolina. His work and his collaborations have been presented on both main stages and underground spaces throughout Germany, France, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Norway, Mexico and the United States from venues such as The American Dance Festival (Durham USA), Maxim Gorki Theater and Sophiensaele (Berlin), Theater Freiburg (Freiburg), Theatre de la Cité International (Paris) and Sydney Festival (Australia) among many others. He has collaborated extensively with artists in both Europe and the United States such as Mia Habib, Dennis Deter, Anja Müller, Jassem Hindi, Murielle Elizéon, Georg Hobmeir, Okwui Okpokwasili, Pieter Ampe and others. He is currently co-director of the performing arts laboratory Culture Mill in Saxapahaw.
General Meeting & Webinar
During EDN's online General Meeting & Webinar, we shared news about the network’s 2024 programme dedicated to the topic of care and wellbeing, members were invited to engage with EDN's current and future projects, vote on new membership applications, and share their news with the EDN community.
Participation in the online General Meeting and the EDNext Activities Webinar is open to representatives of dance development organisations who are members of EDN.
Agenda
Thursday, 25 January 2024
14:00-17:00 CET
Online (Zoom)
Webinar: Research & Activities 2024
14:00 Welcome by Kerstin Evert, Laurent Meheust, EDN Co-Presidents / Eva Broberg, EDN Network Manager
14:05 Inhabiting Time, Space, Body: Practices for the Emergence of Being Well by Tommy Noonan, Co-Director of Culture Mill
14:30 EDN research 2024 presentation by Monica Gillette, dance dramaturg and facilitator
14:40 EDN activities 2024 by Christoph Bovermann, EDN Artistic Project Manager
15:10 EDN Communication catchup by Gaja Lužnik, EDN comms & dissemination
15:15 Break
Webinar: Projects
15:25 Information on Perform Europe by Karen Verlinden, Project Coordinator for Perform Europe
15:45 Presentation of SHIFT Eco-Certificate by Caro Overy, Green Arts Manager at Creative Carbon Scotland
15:55 EDN Future strategies and development with Breakout room discussions introduced by Eva Broberg, EDN Network Manager
16:55 Presentation of the agenda for the second day
Friday, 26 January 2024
10:00-13:00 CET
Online (Zoom)
General Meeting
10:00 Welcome by Kerstin Evert, Laurent Meheust, EDN Co-Presidents
10:10 Board’s news
10:20 Presentation and voting on membership applications by:
11:10 Updates on members’ projects & initiatives
12:00 Members’ news & local developments
13:00 End
Each year, the EDNext project investigates important thematic topics relevant to the contemporary dance sector and disseminates the findings. In 2024, the project facilitates a platform to discuss and map the practices of care and wellbeing in the development of contemporary dance. EDNext is brought to you with the support of the Creative Europe funding.