author: Jeffrey Kalstrom
date: August 12 2006
source: mnartists.org
Body Cartography (the partnership of Olive Bieringa and Otto Ramstad) uses a dance discipline that attempts to integrate contact improvisation with mind-body mediation techniques.
The two dancers enter, and from across the room mimic and match each other’s movements. The movements tend toward “micro” muscle twitches as opposed to covering a lot of ground. After several minutes the dancers break and remove their clothing except for matching “tighty whities”. In some unexplained way it was a relief when the dancers disrobed. It was as if the extreme intimacy of the dancing was ‘lightened” by the partial nudity At times ten feet apart, often just inches away from each other, the dancers vibrated in silent dialogue. Spooky electro drone sounds with sketchy rhythms ground the work. This was not lighthearted stuff, but singularly emotional, and moving.
