Meg Stuart at Multiplex: body, energy and creation in a state of uncertainty

On 15 May, Batalha Centro de Cinema hosted the 5th session of the Great Artists on Campus #1 conference series, featuring Meg Stuart, one of the most influential figures in contemporary international dance, whose work spans dance, theatre, film and the visual arts.

This 5th session took on a special character as it formed part of Multiplex, the annual event of the Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Communication and Multimedia (CAM), fostering an encounter between artistic creation, critical thinking and experimental practices.

As in previous editions of both the conference series and Multiplex itself, the programme began with a presentation of a selection of the artist’s works. Several of Meg Stuart’s films were screened, including Intermission, in which suspension, interruption and the fragmentation of gesture create a sense of waiting and restraint; River of Cars, centred on the relationship between body and urban space, exploring dynamics of continuous movement and disorientation in the contemporary city; The Only Possible City, which proposes a reading of urban space as a collective construction marked by the coexistence of proximity and isolation; Shelf Life, dedicated to issues of ageing, repetition and bodily memory, highlighting the physical and emotional vulnerability of bodies; and What Holds Us, which reflects on human relationships, mutual support, contact and interdependence, among others.

Following the screening, Meg Stuart led a masterclass, followed by a discussion with the audience, accompanied by João Sousa Cardoso, Director of the Bachelor's Degree in CAM, during which she explored in greater depth some of the key themes that run through her artistic practice and work.

The choreographer presented her work as an ongoing investigation of the body as a site of experience, memory and transformation, situated at the intersection of different languages and formats.

The artist began her presentation with a central question: “Where does artistic knowledge come from, and how do we know what we want to create?” For Meg Stuart, creating involves accepting a state of uncertainty, in which the artist often works without clear answers, approaching the process with a “beginner’s mind”, free from fixed assumptions. Improvisation thus becomes a means of discovering what is not yet known, with not-knowing understood not as emptiness but as a space of potential.

One of the most striking ideas of the session was the notion that everything is energy — emotions, movements, relationships and space. Stuart views emotions as “energies with colour”, taking an interest in frequency, vibration and presence, which transforms artistic practice into an exercise of sensitive attunement and attention to what moves between bodies and contexts.

Within this framework, emotions are understood not merely as psychological content but as the physical material of choreographic work — blushing, sweating, laughter, tears, hesitation or interrupted impulses become movement material. She is particularly interested in the moment before a “gesture” becomes fixed: the instant before reaction, before “form” stabilises and before emotion acquires a name.

Throughout the session, Stuart also highlighted the influence of cinema and video on her work, despite originally coming from dance. When she began working with moving images later in her practice, she incorporated cinematic concepts into her choreographic approach, such as zoom, cuts, changes of shot, interruption and abrupt transitions. From this perspective, the body can also “edit” space, moving closer or further away, functioning like a moving camera.

Meg Stuart’s work therefore stands as an ongoing investigation into the body as a territory of experience, memory and transformation, constantly crossing disciplines, modes of perception and artistic languages.

Also as part of Multiplex, at 9:00 pm on 15 May, her film Sulphur Edges was screened. Filmed on São Miguel Island, in the Azores, the work combines choreographic and cinematic practices. The film presents a sequence of physical actions and choreographed gestures, filmed in a way that emphasises the relationship between body, camera and space (the island itself). Rather than following a linear narrative, the film unfolds through fragments of movement and performative situations, exploring different physical states and bodily dynamics.

Multiplex also includes two further events: one, which took place at Espaço Mira on 27 May, where short films by second-year CAM students and installations by third-year students were exhibited; and the final event, on 28 June, which will take place at Batalha Centro de Cinema, where films by graduating students from the Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Communication and Multimedia will be screened.

View the Event Photographs on ULusófona’s Facebook Page

Text
Bruna Pereira
Susana A. Oliveira

Coverage
Lara Sousa
Paulo Renato

Video and Photography Editing
Paulo Renato