On The Table is a weekly event for artistic exchange and collaboration run by Caitlin Dear and Rebecca Jensen. Dancers of any training background, as well as people curious about movement though new to dance, are welcome.

Each week’s session is hosted by a different artist or collective who are invited to put something ‘on the table’ for everyone to examine together. The program features artists working with different styles of dance, approaches to choreography, methods of bodily practice and relationships to movement. On The Table particularly aims to highlight artists who work with dance in combination with other fields (for example gaming, science, therapy and visual art). Anyone from these intersecting fields are encouraged to come along!

Monday 3 October, 6.30pm — Abigail Benham-Bannon

Abi will share her practice exploring embodiments of socio-ecological concepts (such as sustainable development, adaptability and resilience), and how these embodiments might help us to understand, express, investigate, develop, and rewrite these ideas. The study of these complex ideas will be contrasted/enriched by a culture of playfulness.

What possibilities are there for movement to communicate, understand and develop social-ecological theories? How might it engage us in personal and collective connection to ‘natural’ and social environments, through embodiment or performance?

Monday 10 October, 6.30pm — Patricia Wood

Patricia Wood is a dance artist whose research practice focuses on the embodied practice of transmission, ephemerality and memory. She often wonders how to transmit the experience of dancing in all its nuance and complexity.

Together, in her session, we will map the topography of the ephemeral, exploring SINE waves, vibrations and radial signals. We will begin by finding the resonant frequency of the space, and then enact ways to trace the materiality of air by bringing attention to what is tangible but hard to see.

Monday 17 October, 6.30pm — Jessica Tanto

Jessica will share a participatory performance-in-development that takes the form of a satirical yoga class.

We’ll take part in an absurd yoga class which dissects contemporary discourses surrounding the commodification of yoga and spiritual practices. This project is not a protest against the commodification of yoga, but rather a space to co-question the commercialisation of spiritual knowledge, and our position as potential stakeholders of the wellness industry.

Monday 24 October, 6.30pm — Michaela Bear and Caitlin Dear

Michaela works as a gallery curator and Caitlin as a choreographer. Together they are interested in the complex exchanges and interplays at work between artist, viewer, artwork and curator within the physical confines of exhibition environments.

Using source material from an upcoming exhibition, they will share curatorial text, scores and physical investigations into dynamic, embodied processes of exhibition-making and methods for enabling visitors to take on crucial performative roles in an exhibition.

About On The Table:

Sessions range from workshops and in-progress performance showings to open artistic explorations. Artists might share choreographic material, a practice, an idea, a framework, a question, a score, a reading or any manner of provocation. Everyone is invited to take part in the tasks at hand. Participation can be as little or as much as desired and you are free to come and just watch.

On The Table is free to attend and everyone is welcome whether you’re a professional dancer or you’ve never danced before. Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in and bring a water bottle.

For any questions or to submit an idea, please contact [email protected]

Instagram: @on.the.table.melb

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