Viewpoints for dancers by Lobke Sprenkeling

Mazatlán  • 

This is a compilation of the 5-day course of Viewpoints for dancers that I taught at the Professional Dance School of Mazatlán (Mexico), under the direction of the famous dance company Delfos. It gives a small view of how I work on Viewpoints with dancers and which advantages it has. I've been working with musicians, actors and dancers for my own training in all three fields, and after intensive training with SITI New York - the great artists of Viewpoints - I realized that it was the ideal technique to rehearse multidisciplinary pieces. I have taught Viewpoints in various places in the US and Mexico, where I noticed how different the needs of dancers are from those of actors or musicians. Being a musician who is also trained in classical and contemporary dance, I adapt the methodology specifically to dancers and choreographers, and then extend to the specific relationship between music and dance. The actors are the ones who usually work with Viewpoints, and because of their different approach to dancers, some things are much more natural, while in other aspects they do not adapt as quickly as dancers. Musicians usually have less experience in listening to their body in the space. With them, more work is necessary on the awareness of the body before beginning to improvise as a group within the space.