The School of Narrative Dance

For the new edition of Social Capital, TAAK joins forces with Italian artist Marinella Senatore in September 2020 to introduce The School of Narrative Dance to Amsterdam.

During these past months, it has proven to be impossible to navigate the city without being reminded of the current COVID-19 crisis. In some cases, our city’s public space turns out to be less public after all. As lines of tape prohibit us from navigating freely, other less visible limitations are also surfacing. The current crisis reveals the drawbacks of our city’s public domain and makes us consider: how safe and/or accessible was it in the first place? Not only did this (intelligent) lockdown change our experience of public space, it also deeply affected our perception and understanding of our social lives, communities, and our homes. We are forced to (re)think and see what possibilities lay ahead of us.

This autumn, we invite Marinella Senatore to reflect on our ‘new normal’: how will it (re)shape our future, and how do we adapt to the conditions of a 1,5-meter society? What will be the ramifications, and is it possible to find any positives amidst the crisis?

In 2012, Senatore founded The School of Narrative Dance – a nomadic school that engages through non-hierarchical learning and informal ways of (self) education. This ongoing educational project focuses on the idea of storytelling as an experience that can be explored choreographically. As it is free of charge, The School of Narrative Dance is open to everybody who is curious to join Senatore’s public and energetic workshops. The School of Narrative Dancecreates active citizenship and cultivates the creative power of a crowd. For this edition of Social Capital, The School of Narrative Dance will take on an alternative form to adjust to the rules and regulations in times of COVID-19.

The dialogue will be initiated via online environments, where participants’ stories will be shared via digital platforms. Their virtual rehearsals will result in a series of physical energetic workshops exploring collective movement in these otherwise isolated times. Two workshop series will take place: the first in the week of September 21 - 27 and the second in the week of November 2 - 8. Each individual workshop results in a performance that is documented in public space. All performances combined will result in a collective video work: the end performance!

For this initiative, TAAK will be in close collaboration with Marinella Senatore, her team of choreographers and local partners and residents. This edition of The School of Narrative Dance clearly demonstrates the essence of Marinella Senatore’s work - which lies in her capacity to create new, unique communities, re-envisioning the potential of art as a powerful agent for exchange, connection, and cultural growth.

Marinella Senatore (Italy, 1977) lives and works in Rome and Paris. With a background in music, fine arts and film Senatore is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice is characterized by a strong participatory dimension and a constant dialogue between history, popular culture and social structures. Within the movement in the arts where collaborative practices are fully embraced, Senatore proves herself to be one of the most influential and interesting artists of this moment.

Follow this link for Senatore's portfolio and more information about The School of Narrative Dance.