Resonances between Dance and Contemporary Music: Transdisciplinary Interpretation Techniques and Methods (researcher: Matias Mucchi)

My research project, "Resonances between Dance and Contemporary Music: Transdisciplinary Interpretation Techniques and Methods," aims to develop a transdisciplinary compositional and educational method that moves beyond the conceptual and methodological borders between dance and music, exploring new forms of expression and understanding. Unlike multidisciplinarity, where different disciplines operate relatively independently within the same project, and interdisciplinarity, which integrates and synthesizes different disciplines while still maintaining distinct approaches and methodologies, transdisciplinarity seeks to surpass and deconstruct disciplinary identities to create a new space for expression and creation. My research project "Resonances between Dance and Contemporary Music: Transdisciplinary Interpretation Techniques and Methods" is based on the concept of "resonance", the approach through which I explore my vision of transdisciplinarity. This method focuses particularly on the resonances of sound and movement, which I have analyzed in recent years through the daily study of percussion and the examination of the works of artists John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, Noa Eshkol, Rolf Inge Godøy, Marc Leman, Thierry de May, Bill Brooks and Catherine Laws. In music, sound resonance refers to the phenomenon where an object or system vibrates with greater amplitude at specific frequencies, known as resonance frequencies. These frequencies depend on the physical properties of the object or system, such as its shape, material, and size. While sound resonance is a quantifiable scientific phenomenon based on physical laws, movement resonance is a more abstract and metaphorical concept used to describe how body movements, choreographic sequences, and visual interactions within a dance performance create an amplified emotional and visual effect. This perspective connects to and expands upon existing scholarship and practices at the intersection of movement / dance and sound / music: Godøy and Leman explored the relationship between gesture and sound, demonstrating how movement influences auditory perception, while Brooks and Laws analyzed the connection between the body and performance practices, highlighting how sound interacts with movement to generate new dynamics. Artists such as Merce Cunningham, John Cage, Robert Wilson, Philip Glass, and Pina Bausch redefined the relationship between movement and music, exploring new synergies between the two disciplines. Movement notation systems, notably that developed by Noa Eshkol and Abraham Wachmann, provide a visual language for encoding and analyzing bodily gestures, enabling a deeper understanding of the interactions between body, space, and sound. Somatic practices such as Axis Syllabus, contact improvisation, and somatic dance, pioneered by Frey Faust, Nancy Stark Smith, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, emphasize listening to the body and its functionality, fostering a deeper awareness of the body as an instrument. Furthermore, the concept of resonance aligns with Hartmut Rosa's philosophical perspective, interpreting it as a metaphor to describe the connections between individuals and their surrounding world.