NO HALF MEASURES. Episodes of dance in museums

The project was commissioned by the MuVIM (Valencian Museum of Illustration and Modernity) to create a choreography to be presented within the framework of the International Museum Day on the 18th May, 2014. When the choreographers began their research for the project, they were also inspired to do theoretical research on the presentation, history and new possibilities of dance within a museum space. 

Since the presentation at MuVIM, Taiat Dansa has been touring national and international museums and contemporary art centres. Performing this work in a variety of art environments allows for an experience that is specific to the spatial characteristics of each site. The aim is to approach each museum space paying attention to the mood suggested by each site and to generate an exchange with the audience based on the opinions they share in a questionnaire. This way, the presence of dance into museum spaces enables a new form of communication between museums and their audience. A leaflet with information about the dance work and the goals of the research will be handed out before each performance. The audience is able to freely express their impressions in the questionnaire. Therefore, it not only focuses on the experience of the artist and performer but also on the audience. And particularly, on their experience of dance within a museum as opposed to a conventional theatre. The artistic team presents this work as a choreographic journey through different “episodes”, just as the museums involved will also be part of these episodes. Each episode will be numbered and each participating museum will give name to the episode. 

NO HALF MEASURES. Episodes of dance in museums is a choreographic research on identity through a collective self-portrait. Four faces, in constant movement, building a story to narrate the transformation of the body. The scene provides an overview of the individual thought that manifests itself in a constant melee. The individual memory of each dancer moves towards a collective fiction. It represents a clear statement of the need to recognise oneself as individual within a collective identity. The dancers place blind trust in movements with no half measures and make compelling choices in each site where this choreographic installation is presented.