Invitation to the Defense of Tina Amerstorfer

The Examination Panel is made up of: Prof. Dr. Ruth Sonderegger (chair), Dr. Krassimira Kruschkova (supervisor 1), Dr. Adam Czirak (external appraiser, mdw, Vienna).

The defense will take place in German in room M13a at Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Vienna.

Abstract

This dissertation approaches the workshop format of contemporary dance from a philosophical perspective, asking about its particularity. At the center stands the choreographic practices of Doris Uhlich and Sigal Zouk, which are described as "performative textual spaces". The workshop space situates itself in a "resistant in-between" – between aesthetics and ethics, performance and rehearsal, art and life, as well as between the participants. These and further choreographic in-between spaces are described in the present work primarily through Jean-Luc Nancy's thoughts on "being singular plural" and concepts of touch and encounter. From the very beginning the work has dedicated itself to a performative research logic. At the same time, the question of how to write about dance and the body is consistently at stake, as writing itself is understood as a performative practice that finds its form in the concept of "writing-with" ("Mit-Schreiben").
It is argued that the workshop is always already more than a mere trans-mission format, as "un-canny encounters" can take place within the workshop in contemporary dance – namely in the oscillating inbetween of the familiar and the unfamiliar, the possible and the actual: a space in which bodies can "unwrite" ("entschreiben") themselves from rigid ideas, norms and rules, thus opening a space of potentiality for unexpected and unusual forms of togetherness.

Short biography

Tina Amerstorfer works as a dance scholar, author, performer, and dancer in Vienna. After studying philosophy and German studies, she wrote her dissertation “Un-canny Encounters – Getting Close to the Performative Workshop Space and Other Choreographic In-Between Spaces in Doris Uhlich’s and Sigal Zouk’s Practice” at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Her research moves at the intersection of dance, philosophy, and performative practice and asks about the in-between of language and body. In addition, she leads dance and writing workshops and moderates conversations with artists and audiences.