d a n s e (1) is a fifty-minute solo journey through a large non-frontal space with five different “stations” or environments.
Rosalind is concerned in this work with how the body in d a n s e is transformed over a duration of fifty minutes, in response to different textural environments and in close proximity to the public.

The piece commences with a projection on a giant screen (or wall) of the video d a n s e by Eric Pellet. Rosalind then proceeds to inhabit the space which is installed with : a large open raised stage, a light box 2m x 2m lit from underneath, a place for Isabelle Ginot with her real-time writing responses to Rosalind’s dancing projected either side of her two laptops, a rock and roll scene, and the spaces in between…

These “stations” give the audience different frameworks through which to perceive the dancing. The public can circulate or sit on benches placed in and around the various “stations”. Rosalind composes the dance in the presence of the spectators, working with different modes of relationship to them, …distant, direct, indirect, peripheral, in a constant state of listening.

A very personal voyage, this solo is completely influenced by its environment and influences it in turn. Isabelle Ginot dialogues “live” with the dance on her portable computers : her texts, – at times commentary, at times fictional responses to the dancing -, are simultaneously projected on two screens (or walls) during one part of the journey. The public thus has access to multiple points of view, both in the space and by following the view of Isabelle.

In the final minutes of the piece, the space is invaded by powerful rock and roll music, which gives yet another perspective on the dance, underlining its visceral dimension.

d a n s e (1) can be presented on large stages or in atypical spaces, bearing in mind that the public and the dancer need to be able to share a large common space. Each performance constitutes a unique event. It is a living, evolving work, and a response to each particular site.

conception & choreography Rosalind Crisp
dance Rosalind Crisp
assistant choreographer Andrew Morrish
text & ‘inside eye’ Isabelle Ginot
music Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin
lights & technical direction Marco Wehrspann
video Eric Pellet, Le Fresnoy
stage design Rosalind Crisp, Marco Wehrspann
duration 50 minutes
premiered 12 may 2006 at la Condition Publique Roubaix

touring Mains d’œuvres Saint-Ouen (2006),  Taichung Culture Centre Taiwan (2006), Greenwich Dance Agency London (2007), Centre des Bords de Marne Le Perreux – Biennale nationale de danse du Val-de-Marne (2007), Performance Space Carriageworks Sydney (2007), Dancehouse Melbourne (extracts)(2007), Soirées MC2 Grenoble (extracts) (2009), Platform Zagreb (2009), Zodiak Helsinki Finland (2010)

touring company 5 people (1 technician, 1 dancer, 1 assistant choreographer, 1 writer, 1 tour manager)

technical requirements open space with no fixed seating, min 15m x 15m / grid height : 5 metres minimum / 3 walls or screens for video projection : 1 large, 2 small / freight of light box 2m x 2m

production Association Omeo Dance – Company Rosalind Crisp

coproduction Centre chorégraphique national de Roubaix Nord-Pas de Calais; La Condition Publique – Roubaix.

with the support of the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France-ministère de la Culture et de la Communication; Atelier de Paris-Carolyn Carlson; Biennale nationale de danse du Val de Marne – Centre de Développement Chorégraphique; Le Fresnoy – Tourcoing