What is?
The Moving Library is a project Defne Erdur Rabuel has been developing since 2017, with the initial intention of making reading and research practices more available and accessible for movers and dancers. However the research question has acquired a broader scope today: How do we associate with and personalize existing documents, embodying the information transmitted through them?
In 2018, the Moving Library Project was introduced to dance and movement researchers during the Contact Improvisation Research Gathering Fall in CI – Turkey, between 3rd and 11th November. There, 5 more researchers committed to join the project.
The Pilot Phase of the research took place in a residency in Lyon, between 15th and 20th of May 2019. The first outcomes of this phase –of this body and movement informed pedagogical, scientific and artistic inquiry– have been shared with dancers, pedagogues and researchers in Lyon at a Helix Event on the 18th of May 2019. The conceptual framework of the research and some of the MoveReading Scores developed by the research group were shared.
The Moving Library Research Team was also invited to share their outcomes in the 7th IDOCDE Symposium Tracing Forwards –––– intersecting (somatic) legacies and future (art) practices. The Symposium took place in Vienna during ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival on the 26th -28th July.
In 2019, some of The Moving Library research team members were present again in Fall in CI – Turkey, to further share their ongoing practices and invite curious movers to their research. CI dancers from Turkey, Hungary, Italy, Lebanon, Switzerland, Belgium, Poland, France, Ireland, UK, Ukraine have joined and contributed to the shared experiences of the Moving Library. Their constructive feedbacks were received. As of today, the research outcomes are being evaluated for further sharing via written and video publications and practice retreats.
With the encouragement of the feedbacks and the inspiring outcomes of the Pilot Phase Residency, the research team is now willing to continue their inquiry to challenge old models of learning, review definitions of intelligence, and examine body’s ability to learn and develop knowledge. They are looking for funding and partnerships for further research retreats and wide spread applications of the Moving Library practices.
On the ground of the demands coming from local dance and movement groups around the world, the Moving Library Research Team is now starting to support and supervise research groups in different countries that are willing to contribute to the Moving Library inquiry. If you are willing to be one of these groups please contact movinglibraryinfo@gmail.com