ZeM Monograph 06

The physical event of a (dance) movement visualizes itself in the moment of its occurrence. Is it possible to conceive of choreography as an instruction for the event and thus bridge the contradiction between the repeatability of choreography and the singularity of the event? Can the potential for discontinuity be created within a choreographic, continuous structure?

Saskia Oidtmann subjects the philosophical mode of the event to a dance-performative investigation within choreographic structures. In doing so, parameters are identified that dissolve the control of ingrained movement patterns and open our perception toward movements as they come into being. Where can a lapse, a disturbance, a rupture occur that reveals the body in an unplanned way? How is space created for spontaneity and authenticity? An aesthetic of the unmediated emerges, allowing a focus on in-between spaces: within a staged framework, not only can immediate and spontaneous movements occur, but an unguarded view of the body is also revealed.

Saskia Oidtmann is a choreographer, dancer, lecturer, and intimacy coordinator. She develops movements, concepts, and texts that originate from a genuinely physical source. Alongside stage-based and site-specific dance projects, her work focuses in particular on cinematic realizations of movement. She studied dance and choreography at the Laban Centre in London, as well as film and theatre studies at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and Freie Universität Berlin. She was part of the DFG Graduiertenkolleg Sichtbarkeit und Sichtbarmachung and completed her artistic-scientific doctoral degree on Choreographien des Ereignens at Universität Potsdam in 2023.

Her artistic work has been presented in Germany, England, Ireland, Finland, South Africa, and Nicaragua. In addition, she is a co-founder of the collaboratively organized production space garage in Berlin-Lichtenberg. She is also active in cultural policy work with Ag Tanz und Elternschaft within the framework of ZTB e.V. Since 2023, she has pursued further training as an intimacy coordinator and works in film and theatre. She currently lives in Vienna with her partner and her two daughters.

More information about the author: www.saskiaoidtmann.de