Oh. Em. Gee.

Artist / Autist

Aspergers - more common in adult males

* Average or above average intelligence
* Inability to think in abstract ways
* Difficulties in empathising with others
* Problems with understanding another person's point of view
* Hampered conversational ability
* Problems with controlling feelings such as anger, depression and anxiety
* Adherence to routines and schedules, and stress if expected routine is disrupted
* Inability to manage appropriate social conduct
* Specialised fields of interest or hobbies.

The Five Corrosions

These things perpetuate dissatisfaction and hostility. These things prevent us from slaking our thirst. These things play together to create the conditions for obsolescence.

Solipsism

Self involved, self absorbed, self protecting, self aggrandizing one dimensional approach to making. The inability to flex with other points of view. The refusal to truly reapproach.

Melancholia

Humourlessness, bleakness,public self flagellation. The tragic that fails to be universal. Angst and catharsis without the maturity of design. The hard done by attitude amongst the elders. Spirit of celebration buried under the weight of depression.

Disingenuousness

Dishonesty in ones art, desires, actions, perspectives, communications and relationships.

Dilettantishness

Inadequate skill and information. Ahistorical approach to the form. Absence of reverence. Premature birthing of works. Confusions of the post modern with the conservative. Superficial investigations.The prolific amateur.overpowers diversity with earnestness and cliche'. A position of anti skill based on shallow misunderstanding of the No Manifesto and a futile engagement with a search for originality.

Lovelessness

Ubiquitous lack - commonly its in the work, its in the performances, its in the audiences, its in the foyer conversations, its on the net, its in the body. A profound absence of generosity and debilitating culture of hyper criticism. Withholding.

The Settlement project Wellington 08

above image by Kate Baker, the rest by Hans

Settlement was created and performed by: Amber Stephens, Anuschka Von Oppen, Andrew Rutherford, Alyx Duncan, Callum Strong, Cathy Livermore, Claire Hughes, Claire O' Neil, Crystal Scia Scia, Elle Loui August, Francis Christeller, Hadleigh Walker, Hans Van den Broeck, Joshua Rutter, Juliet Shelley, Kerryn McMurdo, Kristian Larsen, Maria Dabrowska, Megan Adams, Merenia Gray, Rose Beauchamp, Sarah Knox, Sophia Elisabeth, Tessa Martin, Zahra Killeen-Chance.
This piece was created in 2 weeks with a local group of professional performers from different ages/ origins/ backgrounds. We constructed a temporary village/ settlement with found and collected materials. 'The Print Factory' a disused industrial space was chosen as a site that honestly evoked a gritty roughness. The creation process took place in that environment.

"Built from improvisations, the works of SOIT revolve and turn around ideas in very ‘real’ ways, giving the audience a sense of watching it unfold for the very first time. Life imitating life from tragedy to celebration, Hans Van Den Broeck’s studies in psychology and film brings characters of subtle complaint towards their own breaking points." from press release

Favourite Things 2008

Guy and Malia's wedding..seriously the best social event of the year and the nicest time I have ever had with a large group people from the dance community.

The MAU Forum, including Lemi's latest version of The Tempest. At the end of that piece, I looked at Sean and said "That was GOOD."

Performing at Melbourne's Dancehouse with a group of fantastic artists "You Are Not Alone You are Just In New Zealand". Put together by the tireless Malia Johnstone.

Performing in Settlement in good ol Wellington..gotta love that dust

Claire O'Neill's MTYLand performed by Footnote, seriously contemporary, seriously about fucking time!

The Trial directed by Stephen Bain, with exemplary design by Andrew Foster and a deeply cool collaborative cast of interdisciplinary performers.

Kraftwerk at the Auckland Town Hall. Flawless Will stay with me for a long time (Thanks for the ticket and the company Paul McLaney).

Robot Chickens Star Wars Episodes. I havent fully grown up yet.

The Article that Summed It All Up (Kay S. Hymowitz)

Collaborating with Simon Ellis (a very smart man) on improvisation, online.

Hofesh Schecter..I just like what he's doing.

Peter Ralston's Cheng Hsin workshop in Auckland

Santeri Ojala, aka StSanders and his virtuosic overdubbing. I know he made this stuff a couple of years ago but whatever, I laughed in 08.

Personal Thanks and Awards

‘High End Conversations’ award (s)…Sean Curham, Larry Lavender, Alys Longley, Brenton Surgenor, Natalie Medlock, Helaina Keeley, Cat Gwynne, Simon Ellis, Chris Jannides (keep on plugging CJ)

‘Ass Kicker of the Year’ award…Lemi Ponifasio

‘Hospitality & Generosity’ awards…Guy Ryan, Ali East, Malia Johnstone, Allen Roberts, Sian Tucker (keep those social cogs oiled!), Raewyn Whyte and Derek Tearne

‘Damn Fine Flatmate’ award…Charlotte 90

‘Dedicated - Hard Working - You’ll Go Far - etc’ award…Jess Quaid

‘Nice Work Dude’ award…Josh Rutter

"Take Your Place Among Them' award...Sarah Foster

The ‘I Like Where You’re Going with This’ award…Dave Hall

‘Damn Fine Human Being’ award…Drew MacMillan

Special Thankses for keeping me going …Vitamin S peeps, me folks out West, Douglas Wright (for addressing it directly and getting what was going on), Geordan Wilcox, David Zeitner Smith, Ash, teaching opportunities with Touch Compass and 101 stuff at Uni, Ralph Buck, Nick Rowe, Camille Boyte (for understanding), Matt Smith, Claire O'Neill, Jenny Macarthur

...and in the end when the fire burns out, you're left with whatever it is that you're left with.

New Online Collaboration

Simon Ellis and I have set a new blog in motion here. The new blog is focussed on practices of improvisation. Take a look, contribute, etc.

RUGBY

From a conversation online between myself, and an esteemed colleague (read: 'good mate').....

(A part of our discussion touched on) 'recognition' versus 'understanding'. This made me think of of the word 'reading' - literally means to re-cognise. But this act of recognition is part of how we develop an understanding of a work. Perhaps KL is suggesting not to put the cart before horse in how we go about perceiving/witnessing performance? My bugbear in this part of the 'problem of dance' (or perhaps art in general) is the notion of having to "get it". As if it has a solution. Strange in a way b/c we can be so sophisticated in our understanding of the nuance of physical action (only need to look at our understanding of the action of rugby in NZ (for example), but within an arts context there is suddenly a pressure to 'get it'.

This 'problem of dance' is ongoing, and probably cultural. For example there is no identifying cultural or national dance representing the pakeha population of New Zealanders. Although there could be an argument made for ballet given its proliferation of schools country wide, and there is a national dance company; The Royal New Zealand Ballet - which still tends to be perceived by NZ male's as effeminate, and homo-erotic. Contemporary dance has a kind of guilt-by-association in that respect also. But anyway that's beside the point. Problematically contemporary dance is far from simple in its movement intentions. Rugby by comparison is easy, no one really looks at its movement in terms of nuance for nuance sake. It's a GAME. It's very clear that that's what it is. Therefore the movement and the intentions behind the movement are very easy to read - 'He threw himself at the other man in a full body blow in order to get the ball and win the game'

Simple.

However in contemporary dance - 'He threw himself at the other man in a full body blow because...'

a - He was demonstrating or illustrating or expressing an issue around relationship and /or sexuality in gender specific, ambiguous imagery in order to satisfy the choreographers sub agenda(s) around deconstruction, interrogation of sexuality in contemporary culture, cliche' in post post modern concert dance on mainland Europe (and its outlying areas), issues about the portrayal of men dancing together on stage and/or undescribed intuitive hunch(es) about intersections of bodies in space.

or perhaps

b - In attempting to move away from issues of identity, sexuality, and meaning the choreographer in collaboration with the dancers was working from conceptual provocations that resulted in a movement vocabulary that was; new, innovative, hybridised, and uncharacteristically honest in its attempt to be nothing other than movement for movements sake with no subtext, narrative, construed meaning, or any other cloying non linguistic coding even if driven by therapeutic somatic concerns.

If this is the case as often as I suspect it is, I can see why rugby is usually the winner on the day.