Leading choreographer Michael Clark and his contemporary dance company recently completed their seven-week residency in the Tate Modern's grand Turbine Hall. Clark's installation centred on platforming the creative process behind his work...
Leading choreographer Michael Clark and his contemporary dance company recently completed their seven-week residency in the Tate Modern's grand Turbine Hall. Clark's installation centred on platforming the creative process behind his work, profiling it from inception, through practice to performance.
As well as being asked to be a part of the audience, Clark also presented an open invitation to the general public. He asked them to come forward and train with the company in the Tate, culminating in a series of performances given over the last weekend of the installation.
The four performances, held over the August bank holiday, combined a series of Clark's pieces performed by both a group of his company's dancers, and his chosen 75 members of the public.
While the two groups were clearly identifiable, one gracefully taking control of the cavernous space, the other presented in teams of semi-militantly organised squads, visibly recounting the steps back in their mind, the work as a whole was an amazing experience.
Opening up contemporary choreography, to be examined and hopefully understood, was at the core of Clark's residency. And in that, he was entirely successful. Watching the piece, as an audience member, you felt completely involved, while the honesty of the new dancers, combined with the education that Clark's company presented, was mesmerising.
Seeing the intensity on the faces of the public dancers so clearly allowed the audience to understand the mechanics of contemporary choreography in a way that watching trained professionals doesn't. Contrasting this with experiencing the professionals effortlessly take control of that huge space allowed for an understanding of both the technical and creative difficulty that is overcome to do so.
Clark's company has been pushing forwards with movement and choreography since beginning in 1984, and his installation in the Turbine Hall simply continued a brilliant career history. One that has constantly been changing the boundaries of movement and dance, and which, without a hint of condescension, constantly presents it at ground level in an intense and visually arresting way.
See some brilliant pictures of Michael Clark in the A/W10 issue of AnOther Magazine, chosen for us by the dancer himself from a new book about his career.
Watch our exclusive fashion film with the Martha Graham Dance Company here.
