The NO Score

14 mar 10 Buenos Aires:
The No Score, written after a showing at Teatro Perro

(For two months I’ve been working intensely on the Goldberg Variations in Buenos Aires. At the end of this period there was a public showing at Teatro Perro (video), followed by a talk. In the talk, someone asked me “What are you actually doing out there”? It was a useful question. That night I thought about it and wrote the score below)

Music begins.
Wait for the movement to happen, patiently.
When in the middle of movement keep open for change.
When in doubt, stop. While stopping, continue immediately, before planning.
Move fully into clear directions, without seeing the end shape.
When you get an idea, go for it, while including the above.
Where observing self criticism, treat it as an idea.
When dancing for a public, include them in every way. They are also moving, are part of the same breathing universe.
Include the obvious, the yours, the already done.
Don’t fall in love and don’t criticise.
Accept – that mistakes and things of bad taste will happen.
Most of all, don’t panic.
When you realize you’re panicking, don’t panic. Observe.
Treat movement not as something that you do, but as something that is there and does not need you in order to be happening.
Go for a movement fully while being ready for change.
If you have a plan, observe it as it changes.
Music is just another part of the landscape, as is space, yourself, your wishes, your history, the audience, the movement.
Allow for constant shifts in focus, surfing amongst above elements.
Keep humour close.
Don’t plan and don’t reflect on what has happened, while including the above.
“I” is not part of the landscape of the moment, neither is the view from the outside. The moment “I” comes into focus – stop and while stopping continue immediately, including all the above.
Exit stage probably before music ends (music duration: 51 minutes).
END

*published in the Goldberg observations, a Contact Quarterly publication, Vol. 36 No. 2
Summer/Fall 2011