Page 35 - SMCK Magazine - Issue #01

“N A T A S H A H A S S I O T I S
MEDIA ” ARE FOR MANY CHOREOGRAPHERS
A STANDARD ELEMENT
OF THEIR PERFORMANCE
THE CRISIS OPPORTUNITY
When the financial crisis hit more than a de- cade ago, dance critics and historians imme- diately responded by trying to define and identify how this challenge would affect ar- tists and their art—a rather difficult task as si- tuating an individual within the historical frame of his/her era while perceiving it as ob- jectively as possible is close to impossible.
Nonetheless, some interesting questions came under scrutiny. For example, were any changes bound to occur in the field of institu- tions or in the field of dance itself because of the financial crisis and consequent lack of fun- ding? How would artists confine themselves and their inspiration within small spaces and
BODY, DANCE AND PERFORMANCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
very small scale spectacles, let alone realize it into a tangible spectacle, with the meagre fi- nancial means then available?
Is money related to the quality of a spectacle? I would add: was the opulence of the 90s a ne- cessary thing? And did it lead to any (quality- wise) unforgettable productions?
CUT DOWN & IMPROVISE!
When there’s a shortage of money, logic and the survival instinct push toward the most ob- vious direction: stripping off the inessential and economizing. Therefore we saw collecti- ves being initiated and an emphasis put on short, site-specific, or street/open-air perfor- mances, happenings, events.
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Photo: Christoph Ziegler