The discussion begins with the question: ‘What is your relationship to your working space?’ Colette and Philipp then discuss the notion of the atelier, a hybrid personal and work space. They talk about the notion of play, ‘unproductive productivity,’ and how performance can be framed as an act with no goal, referencing Giorgio Agamben’s writings on how the calendar creates time, and they move into friendly catching up on their lives in performance and dance and on relocating to Berlin.
This conversation was produced as part of What Now 2013, presented in partnership with Siobhan Davies Studios and Artsadmin, supported by Arts Council England. The festival was curated by Frank Bock with assistant curator Luke Pell, with the intention to ‘draw attention to how bodies already exist in collective relationships…there is critical agency in the way that we direct ‘togetherness’ in the current time.’
Colette Sadler was born in Glasgow, 1974. Trained in Classical Ballet at the Scottish Ballet, then completed a BA (Hons) at The Laban Centre London. On graduation she was a member of Transitions Dance Company 94. She worked Internationally as a dancer between ‘95-2002 with choreographers including Jeremy James, Liz Aggiss/ Billie Cowie, Bebeto de Cidra/Lanonima Imperial and with Compagnia Vicente Saez Spain.
Returning to Glasgow in 2002, she began to develop her own choreographic work creating a number of solo works in collaboration with CCA, TRAMWAY Glasgow and NRLA /New Territories festival. Since 2006 she is based mainly in Berlin and regularly tours her work to festivals and venues across Europe. In 2009 she was International associate artist at Dance Ireland in Dublin and since 2010 works in association with Dance 4 UK.
Since 2007 she focuses mainly on the creation of group works in collaboration with independent dancers, musicians and visual artists. Choreographic works since 2007 include The Making of Doubt 2008 (co-produced by TRAMWAY) Musical 2010 (Co-produced by NPN joint adventures Munich), I not I 2012 (co-produced Jardin d’Europe) Variations One (on order and anarchy) 2013 ( Co-produced by Dance4) and We are the monsters, performance work for children(supported by Tanz Haus NRW Dusseldorf). In Autumn 2013 she will be in residency at Critical Path in Sydney Australia.
Alongside her choreographic work she works on a freelance basis giving workshops at institutions including the Royal Conservatoire Glasgow and HZT (BA course) Berlin.
Philipp Gehmacher lives in Vienna. in the absence, Holes and Bodies and embroyder were his first choreographic works, created between 1998 and 2000 in London. These were followed by the duo good enough (for the opening of Tanzquartier Vienna in 2001), mountains are mountains (2003), incubator (2004), das überkreuzen beyder hände (2006) and like there’s no tomorrow (2007). He began collaborating with US choreographer Meg Stuart in 2007, (MAYBE FOREVER and the fault lines, 2010). In 2008, he began work with visual artist Vladimir Miller (dead reckoning and at arm’s length). In September 2011 an invitation of the Leopold Museum lead to the installation grauraum mit Egon Schiele, and later that year, Gehmacher worked with Schauspiel Köln for the theatre project Das Erdbeben in Chili under direction of Laurent Chétouane.
He initiated the lecture Performance format walk+talk (Tanzquartier Vienna, 2008, Kaaitheater Brussels, 2011).
In 2001 he received a Jerwood Choreography Award and in 2009 the Austrian Advancement Award for Dance by the BMUKK – Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture. July 2012 saw the premiere of Gehmacher’s new stage work, solo with Jack.
Adapted from bios published in 2013.
