CHOREOGRAPHER IN CONTEMPORARY THEATRE: THE CASE OF LATVIA

Abstract

As the paradigm of dramatic theatre has changed and the genre of contemporary dance has evolved, a new approach to theatrical choreography has emerged. In Latvia, a new generation of contemporary dance choreographers has been active for two decades. They have significantly influenced both the aesthetics of their productions and developed the degree of the participation and co-responsibility in dramatic actors.

By working together with contemporary dance choreographers, some actors and directors have changed their attitudes toward their body, its role, and the meaning of their movements. There is a growing awareness of how much time, effort, and precision would be required for smart and valuable choreography. This is a new experience and an opportunity for dramatic theatre. To delve deeper, Ben Spatz, researcher and theorist of embodied practice, through his research encourages artists to focus on the process of exploring the body rather than endlessly developing technical virtuosity.

While the director is still primarily responsible for the staging, the work of the rest of the creative team is often of equal importance. According to the postdramatic theatre theory of German theatre scholar Hans-Thies Lehmann and the performing arts scholar Erika Fischer-Lichte, this is related to a general tendency in the contemporary theatre – the focus is set on living, immediate relationship between theatre and audience, and in this contemporary art discourse the choreographer plays a very important role.