En–Knap & Trisha Brown Dance Company (Kathleen Fisher)

Set and Reset / Reset 360

5 min

#vr360

2020

Reimagining the legendary Set and Reset, En–Knap Group engages with the legacy of postmodern dance pioneer Trisha Brown. Based on the stage work of the same name, the VR360 production preserves one of the defining characteristics of Brown’s choreography: the interplay of geometric structure and fluid movement. Recreating Brown’s choreography demands more than mastering her distinctive movement vocabulary. It requires dancers to improvise, remain constantly alert, and respond to the shifting relationships and situations that continually emerge within the group. It is precisely this interplay between structure and spontaneity that gives the work its distinctive dynamic. This new interpretation was developed in collaboration with the dancers of En–Knap Group by internationally renowned dancer and teacher Kathleen Fisher, a longtime member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company.

SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 5
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 9
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 12
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 14
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 21
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 23
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 31
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 36
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 56
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 60
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 63
SET AND RESET En Knap Group 2017 foto andrej lamut WWW 80
←
→
←
→

Originally created in 1983, Set and Reset is a landmark work by the late Trisha Brown, one of the most influential figures of postmodern dance. This celebrated exploration of “pure movement” investigates the fundamental mechanics of the body and is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of twentieth-century American dance. The original production was created in collaboration with visual artist Robert Rauschenberg and composer Laurie Anderson. Set and Reset / Ponastavitev revisits this iconic work through a language of movement defined by fluidity, unpredictability and geometric precision.

Set and Reset belongs to Brown’s first cycle of works created for the proscenium stage. She described it as “a rectangular dance circumventing the peripheral edge of the stage,” adding: “I think of it as a delivery system for other smaller units of dance—duets and trios that are issued into the center of the stage.” This method encourages dancers to develop personal relationships to the material, the ideas, the creative process and to one another. As a result, each performance can shift subtly according to the dancers’ choices, energies and interactions. In Set and Reset / Reset, Kathleen Fisher drew inspiration from the original work while inviting the dancers to engage with the same creative methods Trisha Brown used during its creation. The aim is to develop a new choreographic work without losing the core principles of Brown’s iconic masterpiece. Once familiar with the movement material, the dancers employ the same set of compositional rules Brown gave to her company, allowing choreography to emerge through interaction, timing and chance.

As throughout Brown’s oeuvre, the dancers remain integral to both the creative process and the final work. Brown famously sought performers with “a taste for being off-balance and looking like they are not,” a principle that subtly informs the movement vocabulary of Set and Reset. For Kathleen Fisher, the challenge of remaining balanced externally, internally and within an ever-shifting matrix of choreography and human relationships resonates strongly with contemporary life.

bio

Trisha Brown Dance Company preserves, performs and reimagines the work of pioneering American choreographer Trisha Brown (1936–2017), one of the central figures of postmodern dance. Emerging from New York's experimental Judson Dance Theater in the 1960s, Brown transformed contemporary choreography through her radical investigations of gravity, improvisation, architecture and everyday movement. Today, the company continues to present Brown's influential repertoire worldwide while supporting new research, education and artistic exchange. Through performances, reconstructions and collaborations, it keeps alive a body of work that has profoundly shaped contemporary dance and remains a reference point for generations of choreographers and performers.

Kathleen Fisher is an internationally acclaimed dancer, master teacher, and restager who spent a decade as a core member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC) from 1992 to 2002. During her tenure, she collaborated closely with Brown, originating roles in landmark works and performing the choreographer’s iconic, rigorous solos. Today, Fisher is one of a select group of master pedagogues entrusted by TBDC to preserve and transmit Brown’s complex postmodern legacy worldwide. She regularly reconstructs repertoire and directs Set and Reset/Reset projects for premier institutions such as P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, the Conservatoire de Paris, and the Bebe Miller Company.

credits

Set and Reset/Reset 360

Concept Trisha Brown

Choreography Kathleen Fisher

360 Direction Iztok Kovač

360 Camera and editing Andrej Lamut

Performing Luke Thomas Dunne, Ana Štefanec, Jeffrey Schoenaers, Lada Petrovski Ternovšek, Matea Bilosnić and Gilles Noël

Graphic Design and Effects Omar Ismail

Sound Recording Studio 001

Original music Laurie Anderson

Light design Jaka Šimenc and Hotimir Knific (based on the original design by Robert Rauschenberg and Beverly Emmons in 1983)

Costumes Katarina Škaper (based on the original design by Robert Rauschenberg in 1983) 

Production En–Knap Productions / Stage 360

 

Stage360

Founder and artistic director Iztok Kovač

Technical coordinator Omar Ismail

Sound post-production Studio 001

VR Technology Consultant Marko Cafnik & Multiversum

Executive producer Karmen Keržar

Rehearsal directors Tanja Skok, Nohemi Barriuso

Managing director Marjeta Lavrič

Head of finance Julija Travančić

Head of public relations Nina Smerkol

Marketing and project coordination Goran Pakozdi

Event organisation and coordination Katja Gabrijelčič

Technical team Leon Curk, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne, Špela Škulj

The programme of En–Knap Productions, administrator of Španski Borci, is financially supported by: City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture, which also supports Španski Borci activities, and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia