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

Set and Reset/Reset

30 min

#en–knap group's repertoire

2017

Double Bill: Iconic 80s

Set and Reset/Reset (based on the original work) is characterised by a movement language that intertwines the seductive fluidity and unpredictable geometry distinctive of Trisha Brown’s choreographic language. The process requires not only mastery of her unique movement vocabulary, but also the ability to embody the spirit of improvisation and respond attentively to the ever-changing situations and relationships within the group of dancers. The newly developed work is created in collaboration between the dancers of En–Knap Group and Kathleen Fisher, one of the key members of Trisha Brown Dance Company. 

En–Knap Group presented Set and Reset/Reset as part of a double bill that brought audiences back to the 80s through the revival of two exceptional works that helped shape contemporary dance as we know it today.

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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 / Ponastavitev, Kathleen Fisher draws 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.

Dance is at its best a fusion of chaos and order, simplicity and complexity, bounded by its own parameters and strict rules, yet at the same time full of freedom and individuality. It is abstract, yet at the same time reveals the humanity of the dancers.

Kathleen Fisher

press

It's something you simply have to experience. If there is a world of differences between Nadj and Trisha there is a common principle that connects them; they are both turning gravity upside down. En–Knap is not backing down. They kick and they push forward. They build a community and spread the virus of excitement. In short, they work. And they do it well.

Jedrt Jež Furlan, fokuspokus

The decision to do a reconstruction and the mature performance of both pieces decisively combines memory as the foundation of any action and the present time always gazing into the future. For a Slovenian NGO, such, continuous and visible, domestic and international production is by no means a small success, as well as not for the En–Knap Group, which impressed the audience during the premiere performance.

Nika Arhar, RTVSLO

For many of us who haven’t experienced the “golden era” of contemporary dance, the evening of the two half-hour shows, that are extremely relevant, was a great lecture in history.

Pia Brezavšček, Dnevnik

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

Choreography of Set and Reset (1983) Trisha Brown

Direction of Set and Reset / Ponastavitev Kathleen Fisher

Performed by Luke Thomas Dunne, Ana Štefanec, Jeffrey Schoenaers, Lada Petrovski Ternovšek, Matea Bilosnić, Gilles Noël

Music Laurie Anderson

Lighting design Jaka Šimenc, Hotimir Knific (based on the original design by Robert Rauschenberg and Beverly Emmons from 1983)

Costume design Katarina Škaper (based on the original design by Robert Rauschenberg from 1983)

Costume production Atelje d.o.o.

Translation Renata Zamida, Nina Smerkol

 

Production En–Knap Productions

 

En–Knap Productions

Founder and artistic director Iztok Kovač

Managing director Marjeta Lavrič

Head of finance Julija Travančić

En–Knap Group rehearsal director (until September 2017) Tanja Skok

En–Knap Group rehearsal director (from September 2017) Nohemi Barriuso

Executive producer Karmen Keržar

Head of public relations and editor Nina Smerkol

Project and marketing coordinator Goran Pakozdi

Designers nejaaka

Programme coordinator and organiser Katja Gabrijelčič

Technical coordinator Jaka Šimenc

Technical team Leon Curk, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne, Omar Ismail, Hotimir Knific, Aleksander Plut, 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