SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY engages everyone ́s perception and knowledge of “how things move”, inquiring if and how individuals can imaginatively order and re-order aspects of their personal, social, cultural and political lives. THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY:
Having understood the world differently, SOMETHING should follow for how we conduct our affairs in it.
- Andrew Pickering: Making Anothe
r World (2007)
In response to the urgency of our contemporary ecological situation, THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY was founded in Frankfurt Germany on December 21st, 2012, to promote and further develop what is now becoming a world-wide, emergent form of cultural practice. Choreography, traditionally understood as “the art of movement in time and space”, has found itself being drawn away from the ideal world of the stage and is beginning to engage its social potential to pursue sustainable orders of human relations (Social Choreography). Awareness and consciousness of what? Of the real material world. Of the things we see and hear and taste and touch."
- John Cage
In its daily activities, THE INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY specializes in deep dramaturgical research, the development of new cultural formats and collaborative networks and the practice of SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY as methods of discovering and manifesting alternative patterns in the ecology of our collective experience. It`s primary aim is the expansion, extension and integration of experiential knowledge, accessed through the arts and performing arts, into all aspects of civic and cultural life. CHOREOGRAPHY AS AN AESTHETICS OF CHANGE
"Choreography — as an Aesthetics of Change — assumes the creative practice of setting relations, or setting the conditions for new relations to emerge."
- Michael Klien
Perceiving the world with a deeply developed sensibility for inter-connectedness and interdependence can form a new choreographic practice, a practice whose methodologies of intervening, steering, and (re-) arranging could be applied to other fields of human knowledge production as well as human interaction. It is a way of seeing the choreographer within the context of an existing, larger, ongoing choreography of physical, mental, and social structures, whereby the choreographer acts as a strategist negotiating intended change within his/her environment." EMPTYING THE PRESENT OF IT`S ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY
The ISC membership consists of an international trans-disciplinary group, of artists, philosophers, designers, theologians, social researchers, dancers, filmmakers, organizational relations experts, theoreticians, psychologists, choreographers et al. Their purpose is the breaking open of a new and vital territory of understanding and engagement, one without limits, one with the potential to make links and find connections anywhere. NEW MEANINGFUL PUBLIC SPACE
Located in one of the city´s premiere cultural centers, Mainfeld: Raum für Kultur (http://www.mainfeldfrankfurt.de/) the Institute of Social Choreography (ISC) is dedicated to promoting and further developing the emerging field of SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY. The ISC consists of a production office, a library, an archive, conference rooms and a large performance / lecture space. In addition, the ISC offers overnight accommodations for visiting researchers, guest speakers, collaborating artists and special guests. The first INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY was founded in Frankfurt Germany on Friday, December 21st 2012.
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Das INSTITUT FÜR SOZIALE CHOREOGRAPHIE will ein neues kulturelles Terrain eröffnen, um gemeinsame gesellschaftliche Bewusstseins- und Handlungsräume freizulegen. Das INSTITUT FÜR SOZIALE CHOREOGRAPHIE sieht die anstehenden sozio-kulturellen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit als dringlich an und experimentiert mit neuen Kooperationen und konkreten kulturellen Prototypen für ein anderes, sinn-stiftendes Miteinander.
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ISC / INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHY / INSTITUT FÜR SOZIALE CHOREOGRAFIE
ISC / FOUNDING MEMBERS / Prof. Heiner Blum, Kathrin Brinkmann, Adrienne Göhler, Felix Guder, Christiane Cuticchio, Jeff Gormly, Ralf Harth, Dr. Michael Klien, Jan Lotter, Dr. Norbert Spangenberg, Steve Valk
ISC / STAFF /
Steve Valk: Director / Collaborating Artist
Prof. Heiner Blum: Associate Director / Collaborating Artist
Ralf Harth: Assistant Director / Project Coordinator
Dr. Michael Klien: Head Of Choreographic Research / Collaborating Artist
Dr. Norbert Spangenberg: Head Of Social Research
Jan Lotter: Web-Design / Collaborating Artist
Carsten Bildhäuser: Legal Consultant
ISC / COLLABORATING ARTISTS / Heiner Blum, Lena Ditlmann, Jeff Gormly, Hans Jürgen Herrmann, Dr. Michael Klien, Jan Lotter, Norbert Pape, Steve Valk
ISC / ADVISORY BOARD / Rev. Milton Aylor, Prof. Heiner Blum, Kathrin Brinkmann, Christiane Cuticchio, Scott deLahunta, William Forsythe, Adrienne Göhler, Felix Guder, Alan Shapiro, Dr. Norbert Spangenberg
ISC / INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD / Prof. Eeva Antilla, Prof. Peter Harries-Jones, Prof. Gert Hellerich, Prof. Esa Kirkkopelto, Dr. Michael Klien, Prof. André Lepecki, Dr. Janna Parviainen, Prof. Andrew Pickering, Prof. Kirsi Monni, Prof. Alan Stoekl, Prof. Daniel White
ISC / COLLABORATING PARTNERS / Atelier Goldstein, Frankfurter Verein für soziale Heimstätten, Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach, Institut für Interaktionsforschung und Wissensmanagement, ID Frankfurt, Jazzunique, Meso Digital Interiors, Iconstorm
