About Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash

Dansbaren (The Dance Bar) is a series of public talks, seminars, lectures and discussions initiated and developed since 2003 by the Gothenburg artist-run platform Dansbyrån. Dansbyrån was an artist-run platform which was active from 2001–2016 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Ran by choreographers Marika Hedemyr, Paula de Hollanda, and Moa Matilda Sahlin—three individuals with different voices, practices, and perspectives but with a shared interest—Dansbyrån worked for the development of dance and choreography as theory and practice, both locally and globally. 

 –Ingrid Cogne and Marika Hedemyr, Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash (2016), Ingrid Cogne

About Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash

Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash is an object consisting of two parts: a publication of articles and transcripts which reflect upon the 15 years of discourse that brought dance and choreographic practice and theory together in Dansbaren; and a tablecloth of topics—a tool for continuing dialogues which invites the reader to lay it on the table, welcome others to the table, and put dance and choreography discussions, literally, on the table. The aim of this object is to activate participants to engage in dance and choreography discourses and to spark future Dansbaren.

United in reflection on the continuing relevancy of Danbaren’s topics: dialogue formats, power relations, aesthetics, self-organization, sharing knowledge, appropriating language, artistic practice, history making and feedback methods the co-authors/editors Ingrid Cogne and Marika Hedemyr invited peers to re-activate these discussions together and contribute to this printed Dansbaren. The text "Dansbaren as a Spine" is a clear illustration of this intention in which Cogne and Hedemyr consciously shaped the transcripts of selected discussions with Paula de Hollanda and Moa Matilda Sahlin in order to maintain the liveliness of their verbal exchanges whilst forming their dialogues into one article. It adresses Dansbaren’s ambitions and the challenges faced in sharing knowledge and instigating dialogues. In “Publication as a Choice, an End, a Tool” they discuss bringing dialogue into print with Johanna Gustavsson. In “Feedback–Respons-ability Among Peers”, Hedemyr analyses the methods of feedback learned and used throughout her years as co-director of Dansbyrån and curator of Dansbaren, focusing on the importance of feedback and the responsibility to provide verbal input on physical, artistic practices.

In addition, Cogne and Hedemyr invited specialists to create essays or share established material that is pertinent to the field. In this publication, for the first time, a concise history of dance in West Sweden, spanning a period of 110 years, has been brought to print in the essay “The Talk of The Town” by esteemed dance critic Lis Hellström Sveningson. David Karlsson’s 2011 article “Without Art—No Culture Industries” is reprinted here as it remains a powerful contribution to the discussion on the position of art within society, industry, and the economical market. Per Herngren’s response to Jo Freeman’s 1970s article with the same title “The Tyranny of Structurelessness” has been translated from Swedish to English as its message has provided an essential basis of knowledge when striving to create and maintain a platform free of vertical hierarchies, such as both Dansbyrån and Dansbaren have.

The essays sculpting the section “Skin/Body/Power—Situating Power and Aesthetics” address matters of discrimination, racism, postcolonial theory, gender roles, power structures and feminism in its many manifestations with participating articles from Paula de Hollanda, Paula Tuovinen and Rani Nair.

With this selection of writing, this publication embodies the Dansbaren formula—becoming a podium for sharing knowledge. Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash is a collection of thoughts, dialogues and theories which have been shaping and evolving throughout Dansbaren’s duration. The choreographers of this piece Ingrid Cogne and Marika Hedemyr have composed this object to transform Dansbaren from being bound to time and space into an object which can travel, inspiring future Dansbaren and spurring on critical thought and reflection over practice based art—independently of a space.

With texts by: Ingrid Cogne, Marika Hedemyr, Per Herngren, Paula de Hollanda, David Karlsson, Rani Nair, Paula Tuovinen, Lis Hellström Sveningson

With contributions by: Kate Elswit, Johanna Gustavsson, Lena Hammergren, Myriam Mazzoni, Cecilia Malmström Olsson, Bodil Persson, Moa Matilda Sahlin

Publication Release: Wednesday 24 August 2016, 1:30pm–3:30pm at Kristallen, Stora Teatern, Gothenburg, Sweden. This is a free event, no tickets/reservations necessary: all are welcome to join.

Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash (2016) by Ingrid Cogne and Marika Hedemyr is published by Dansbyrån (SE). The co-authors/editors and the two other artistic directors of Dansbyrån Paula de Hollanda and Moa Matilda Sahlin will travel with the publication during the first six months of its release, August 2016-February 2017, presenting Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash to the public upon the invite of interested organizations and institutions throughout Europe. A detailed itinerary of these events will be posted and updated on Dansbyrån’s website www.dansbyran.se. After the release tour, Dansbaren–The Mob without Flash will be available for general purchase from the distributor Unbound (UK); visit their webshop at http://www.thisisunbound.co.uk.