Conversations
Dominique Rivoal in conversation with screendance artists
Between 2023 and 2024, I engaged in conversation with Dr Jeannette Ginslov, Dr Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt, and Sumedha Bhattacharyya Bhattacharyya as part of my doctoral research situated at the intersection of screendance and somatic movement practices.
I selected these three dancers/filmmakers for their unique approaches to integrating embodied experiences into research-driven, process led experimental films.
I posed questions aligned with my research focus which is to develop a somatic filming method that explores the relational and motional dynamics between two movers as mediated by the camera, using dyadic and somatic methods to reveal deeper interconnections between these roles.
I am grateful for these conversations full of insightful responses that have enabled me to further articulate my own practice as well as create a sense of community around me.
Video Transcript
Audio only (right click to download)
Conversation with Dr Eila Goldhahn
This conversation explores camera witnessing within the context of Authentic Movement. A condensed version is featured in the video essay The moving camera-witness.
Video Transcript
Audio only (right click to download)
Scores
Score number 1 : The movement of attention: a score for a filmmaker and a mover.
0.Optional beginning
Face your partner with eyes closed.
1.Find a place of stillness facing your partner with your camera in hand.
Using a wide shot (24ml) Put all of your attention on yourself.
Press record.
2. Come closer
Using a medium shot (35ml) – look at the Lcd screen –
Place equal attention on you and your subject.
Press record
3.Come closer
With a close up shot (50ml) Look inside the viewfinder
Place all your attention on your partner.
Press record
4.Take a step back
Using a wide shot (35ml)
Place your attention on the space between you and your subject.
Press record
5.Take a step back
Using a wide shot (24ml)
Place your attention on yourself, your partner and the space in between.
Press record.
Guidelines:
These instructions are specifically with the filmmaker – The mover/subject may also follow those instructions on where to place their attention – or move more freely.
Each part takes between 3 to 5 minutes. Agree on a time. Use a timer.
While doing the score notice when your attention is pulled away and bring it back.
Notice your thoughts movement sensation and emotion.
Take time to write about your experience.
Swap roles.
Watch the footage together.
Score number 2 : The camera as an extension of
My arm
My whole body
My right eye – my left eye..
My nervous system
My ears
My skin
My breath
My desire
My Mind
My spirit
My movement
Score number 3 : Staying with until moved
Work with a partner in an outdoor location. The subject is free to move as they wish
Find a comfortable position in which you can remain still and stable
Press record
Stay with the constraint of this framing until feeling moved..until something new emerges, until you feel moved by the event itself.
Score number 4 : Dynamic reciprocity
- Follow the subject with your camera as they move around the space
- The subject follows the camera, aiming to remain in the centre of the frame as the camera moves in space.
- Both the subject and the camera follow each other without anyone leading.
Score number 5: Filming as Correspondence
- The filmmaker and the mover enter the space without a fixed plan.
Both offer their motional response — to place, to atmosphere, to the present moment. - Each follows their own thread of attention, attuned to the world around them. Filming is not about the mover. Moving is not for the camera.Their paths may intersect or remain apart. Trust the parallel process. Let sense making arise through proximity, divergence, and resonance.
Other artist scores
Score 1: Eyes Open, Eyes Closed a score by Katrina McPherson
Also done entirely without technology, this exercise explores performance, framing and editing. Participants seem to find this exercise very illuminating and enjoy it greatly, and it always gives rise to the most animated discussions.
The exercise is done in groups of ideally three people, although it can work with four or more. In any case, each person should be given the opportunity to experience each of the three key roles.
One person plays the role of the ‘camera/viewer’. They have their eyes closed and are guided through space by another person who is ‘camera operator’, who not only keeps them safe, but also tells them when to open and when to close their eyes. The third (and fourth etc.) person performs for the ‘camera’, collaborating with the ‘camera operator’ to make an instant, technology free video dance for the camera/viewer person.
Once the group has decided who is in which role, they start, the idea being that the camera-person and the performer (s) create an experience for the camera/viewer person.
The camera operator gently guides the camera/viewer with their hands placed in the body. Being sensitive to the physical capabilities and confidence of their partner, they can be moved in any direction, and on different levels in the space. When the operator wants the camera/viewer to experience a ‘shot’ they say ‘eyes open’ and then, the shot is complete, they give the command ‘eyes closed’. Of course, the camera operator can guide the camera/viewer to keep moving during the ‘shot’ and is in control of the length of time that the camera/viewer has their eyes open.
For the experience to be most effective, it is best if the camera/viewer keeps their eyes looking directly forward, which emulates more closely a camera lens and makes it easier for the camera operator to know where the camera/viewer is looking and can therefor create the best framing.
After a while, the group can swap between the different roles.
Sometimes people become very aware sound during this exercise, as when the camera/viewer has their eyes closed, this is what comes to the forefront.
Score 2: A tool for structured improvisation a score by Omari Carter
A tool for structured improvisation.
The dancer speaks out loud what movement they are about to do before they do it.
The camera operator responds
Then they switch
The camera speaks out loud
Letting the performer know what they will film before they do it
Score 3: Five Eye Practices by Barbara Dilley
Closed eyes: internal seeing; rest; refresh
Peripheral seeing: soft focus; seeing from the corner of the eyes
Infant eyes: seeing before naming
Looking between things: the space “between”; negative space
Direct looking: investigate; study; absorb
Workshops
Being in Motion, Being in Relation
Free Public Workshop
4–5 November 2023 – Middlesex University
In the spirit of dancer and educator Gill Clarke’s approach to teaching, I planned this workshop as a means of creating a shared field of inquiry—an opportunity for participants to experience, explore, and shape the emerging practice together. Clarke once said:
“Teaching becomes about trying to set up situations where learning can happen, rather than transmitting something that I might know and could possibly be briefly useful. But if you find it or something else for yourself, how much more empowering will that be?” (Gill Clarke 2011 Independent Dance)
Six participants took part on Saturday and four on Sunday. The process was documented by a student film crew from the Middlesex University Film Department. In the morning, I invited the film crew to join the movement warm-ups. It felt important to integrate the group—to avoid creating separate mini-communities—and to invite the crew to experience being visible in the space like the movers. I also encouraged them to contribute their perspectives during group discussions. The participants brought with them a range of somatic and filmmaking experience, and this diversity offered a valuable—if at times challenging—ground for testing the scores. Over the two days, I introduced elements of my developing approach, shared through two scores:
- Score One: The Movement of Attention
- Score Five: Filming as Correspondence, inspired by anthropologist Tim Ingold.
Each morning began with a movement warm-up, including the Five Eyes Practice by Barbara Dilley and Marie Overlie’s score Walk and Stop. It was important to begin without a camera—to create space to attune to perception and to each other through movement before engaging with filming.
Insight for my research:
The workshop functioned both as a way to share my research and as a live testing ground—feeding directly back into the development of my method. This iterative loop allowed me to refine the scores to better align with the lived experience of the practice. A key insight that emerged was the significance of stillness, which had previously remained implicit in my approach. Observing one camera operator struggling to remain still made me realise the need to clarify instructions and adjust the score accordingly. This led to a deeper understanding of the role of stillness within the moving camera witness method and helped me articulate its importance more precisely.
The scores and warm-ups also prompted rich discussion. One participant noted how using a wide frame created an ecological way of filming, in which the subject was no longer the central focal point. Another mover expressed feeling pressure from the attentiveness of the camera operator, which brought into focus the value of swapping roles to foster understanding and support relationality. The workshop also highlighted the need to nuance my approach for somatic movers and filmmakers according to their respective skill sets. In the future, I hope to continue sharing this work in workshop formats, creating opportunities for deeper exploration and dialogue.
I also aim to further develop my work with the ‘relating dyad’ process (Berner)—specifically working with the question “Tell me where you are” in outdoor contexts, where the interplay between inner and outer landscapes can be explored more fully through movement and camera witnessing. Below is a short documentation video presenting some of the footage gathered by the participants.
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