David Bloom
DESIRE: Sex, Spirit, and Choreography as Active and Receptive Practices
Beginn des PhD-Programms / Start of the PhD-Program:
WS 2023/24
Betreuung / Supervision:
Ulrike Hanstein
Yvonne Schmidt (ZHdK)
Abstract
This PhD proposal critically examines a particular state of being/thinking/feeling/moving I have been exploring, and sharing with others, in a diverse variety of settings: the moment of a performer and the world they inhabit enacting an erotic relationship to each other.
Can erotic Desire emerge intersubjectively not only between people, but also between a performer and the space itself? And if so, how are the two phenomena connected? In other words, how can we cultivate a consensual erotic relationship to the universe?
I have found Desires between human beings, especially sexual ones, to be easy access points, as there's a lot of curiosity, fear, and energy around sexuality that doesn't take much to bubble up, so people are vividly present. Also, it’s fun! :) But the more compelling question to me addresses a performer’s Desires that emerge during performance: for instance, to suddenly change their position in the performance space, their relationship to the audience, or the dynamics of their actions. Not compositional choices based on broad knowledge of improvisation techniques, but a clarity of decision-making in which consciousness is not located entirely within the individual, but rather emerges as an active interplay with their environment. There is often a sense of entering a pre-existing channel: it is clear what needs to happen.
The PhD is intended to articulate a map to expand consensual erotic relationship between humans to eventually include everyone, and everything. It draws on practical strategies from three fields to do so - conscious sexuality practices (such as tantra or BDSM), spiritual practice (particularly mystical Judaism), and art-making (specifically choreography) - and brings them into conversation with each other. It proposes that these strategies for using the body as a channel connecting to something beyond the individual self are all but different aspects of the same prism.
Kurzbiographie / Short Biography
David Bloom (he/him) is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, parent, filmmaker, pianist, bodyworker, and fermenting Jewish mystic. He is based in Berlin.
Kontakt / Contact
