In the last few years, the focus of architecture and design at a professional level has been on performative and immersive arts as a medium through which to explore the behavior of the body in space in a contemporary and alternative way. Back in 2017, the Architectural Biennale in Chicago marked the tendentious attraction of art performers to put the moving body in their concepts, drawing attention to its relationship with the environment and design – both of the premises and of the buildings themselves.
Photo: Ivan-Alexander Ivanov, Photo Corps; Courtesy of ATOM Theatre
This, in turn, confirmed in the next two years that through art we pose questions that are of keenly interest to architects and showed that the importance of how we inhabit spaces is changing dynamically in the modern world.
Photo: Ivan-Alexander Ivanov, Photo Corps; Courtesy of ATOM Theatre
Contemporary Dance and Architecture – Design Process and Ease of Feeling
What do dance and architecture have in common? Viewed entirely as an art form, architecture approaches contemporary dance not only in the aesthetics of the finished creation, but also in the nature of creation. The design of both processes has a serious dependence on the movement of the body in space. Since movement initially requires the presence of space, then the purely physical comprehension of how space and movement are perceived by the body of the creator is the leading motive for both.
Photo: Ivan-Alexander Ivanov, Photo Corps; Courtesy of ATOM Theatre
The culmination of symbiosis – site-specific projects uniting the two arts into one
From bridges and buildings to cultural monuments to abandoned spaces, contemporary choreographers completely transform conventional understandings of performance. When a dance piece is created in interaction with a specific space, then the place itself, being part of the performance, acquires the significance of a participant in the piece as much as the body of the artist. Originating in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century, site-specific dance performances are becoming more and more avant-garde and involve the viewer in an experiment of studying a specific space through the presence of the body in it.
Photo: Studio Photo Video ELITE, Courtesy of ATOM Theatre
Inhabited or abandoned, an architectural space continues to live its life, and completely beyond the idea of a human refuge built of concrete, reinforcement and glass packages. Dance has the power to embody a new, deeper creative meaning of the place, emphasizing the qualities of design and architectural features.
Photo: Stefania Georgieva, Courtesy of ATOM Theatre
Strongly influenced by this motif, we share with you a short selection of videos of Bulgarian and international artists working in the context of their environment, interpreting in a new way the forms and function of design:
ATOM THEATRE /// Complex of Shadow /// Teaser – YouTube
ATOM Theatre – ADATA AiR Residency in Plovdiv – YouTube
