Critical Correspondence

MR Festival 2009: Catalogue of Engagement: DOCUMENT

by Maggie Bennett
MR Festival Spring 2009: Roll Call

Democratic Dance Session, led by Milka Djordjevich
Dance Theater Workshop, Robbins Studio, Sat April 26, 2009, 11:00am — 2:00pm

Documentation is challenging when participation is the mode of engagement most encouraged. I felt as though i was betraying the event by extracting myself, picking up the camera — a sign that the movement and physical expression of the individuals present would exist at another time, beyond their being, and would be viewed. I was continually drawn to compositional situations that were interesting to my eye, but felt i could not linger. Objective was to take in the entire room, to share with those experiencing the event here, on CC, not turn into my own imaginative workings. I felt like i was consuming the participants. Rather than face the severity of documenter’s role — that how I present this event on camera, here on CC will possibly be more people’s experience of the event than the number of people who actually participated in the event — I chose to just do a very poor job of documenting.