Katja Mustonen

  Katja Mustonen

1. Reprt about T.T.T. 2013 Budapest

Its not more than three days ago we finished Teachers Teaching Teachers-programm in Budapest. During 7 days, 7 international teachers collaborated together with 7 local young dance artists and teachers. Given such a short time frame for after reflection and integration of new information, I’m faced with a question: What is possible to say or reflect already? What stays?

As I joined the group, I had no clearly defined expectations or goals for the week. Personally, I had no need to repeat the already known structure, where one gives a class, afterwards receiving feedback and reflections from others. For my great joy, the group shared an interest in exploring alternative structures for learning and exchanging knowledge. We spoke about possible co-teaching as one alternative, which creates negotiation in an interaction, enabling instant accumulation of knowledge. In the end, instead of co-teaching, we ended up exploring and experiencing what is the potentials and pitfalls of ”an open learning structures” as a container for expanding knowledge.

This direction provokated insecurity, not-knowing, questions, yet provided us with a rich experience within multiple layers of exchange, communication, group awareness and non-hierarcical structures as a potential for learning. This fed my personal interests thoroughly as already a while, I’ve been keen to understand and study collective ways of decision making. Already based on my earlier experiences in similar group situations, again I was faced with few things that asked generous attention: the importance of open communication is not limited only to direct topics, but is inviting more humanness as personal sharing’s (where one is allowed to say where they are at). How open is open? The balance between how much is fixed and left free to be discoverd remains a mystery to me that I feel, needs to be set based on common needs or agreements in each contexts separately. What I would propose for future, is to agree on some guidelines beforehand, which can be as simple or complex the group wishes to shape the common playground. Also, having a facilitator for each discussion, and a time keeper for each day might help the overall functioning of the whole group. There roles could rotate from day to day between all the members of the group.

Communication - for me - is an important aspect of one’s art making and artfulness. Yet, we’re always conditioned by our past experiences and expectations which has direct influence on our abilities to remain aware in our choice making, aesthetics and notion of taste. Therefore, one simple rule I encountered for myself is to take nothing for granted; what might be obvious to me is not necessarily obvious to others and vice versa. This then relates directly when it comes to action: How responsibility is shared? How hierarchy is built internally within a group, especially when it is not given from outside: who takes/has/uses or refuses power? How decision are made or not?

This week made me confirm some aspects of my everlasting questioning of the role of a teacher: to what extend ”teachers” (in these contemporary times) are needed as the holders of knowledge for transmitting needed tools and skills. Student’s ability to harness their own sources for creativity is inherent in art making. Maybe we need to view the role of a teacher in an art education much broader than it has been until so far. I like to consider my role rather as a facilitator of a space. I prefer that learning can take place horizontally in an environment where diversity of interests and expression, multiple approaches and interdiciplinary stimulus can co-exist. To think in terms of an holistic art education, I often encounter lack of emphasize on the future aspects of what happens after the school: what are the demands/expectations within the field where one aims to enters after the studies? What kind of tools are needed that support both the flexibility and specificity of one’s art making? (this including more info about funds, auditions, financial possibilities, residencies, etc.)

Returning back to my personally reflections of the week, I frequently referred to skills and tools I’ve gained as an improviser. ”Work with what is” became an internal guideline for making sense and navigating in a moments of confusion, creative tension or possible conflicts, also during moments of flow and inspiration. ”Letting go” of expectations provided me with more flexibility and ”waiting” allowed me to work with inhibition, instead of reacting, creating responses. Saying ”yes” increased my ability to agree, which also is a tool to transform individuality into ensemble: how a group can support individual or individual support the group? Play between ”zooming in” and ”zoom out” helped me to ackowledge a range of layers of information from a detail to a larger whole. From working with space, I often asked internally what does the space need?

I experience learning as a non-linear and multilayered pathway. I keep on learning indirectly. I view every situation or a person as a potential teacher, depending on my moment to moment changing ability to remain aware and open. Navigating in a constant stimulus of information can be overwhelming, especially since we were a group of 14 (sharing diverse backgrounds and interests), aiming to make decisions collectively, balancing between theory and practice as the process developed, while simultaneously learning to know each others.

It is difficult to say in detail, what happened, how succesfully we were, and what is the embodied knowledge each one will take with/further along the way. I am deeply gratefull for the TTT-project as ground for research to take place in such an open way. For me this is the core for all art making and should be ever more addressed within education institutions and systems. I am curious to hear in the future, how this experience sprouts by those who shared the week in person. 

2. Pedagogical statement

Becoming a teacher has sneaked upon me behind the corner. My first experiences as a teacher were around the high school years, working with children and youth over several years with only very little experience in dance. When I stopped, due to the beginning of my three years dance studies, I was convinced I would never return teaching again, as it had been exhausting and straining duty for me. Now, during and after my MA studies on Contemporary Dance Pedagogue, I find - with great deal of surprise and gratitude - that teaching and facilitating movement based work has grown extensively to be a huge part of my professional dance life.

I work as an independent artist and teacher mainly in Frankfurt, yet lately also in growing amounts internationally. My classes vary from diverse approaches to body and movement, and they take place in variable contexts mainly with non-professionals, but also including professional dancers/-students/movers/actors. This state of being not fixed with one kind of a target group has provided me with great amount of freedom in developing my working methods always in relation to each encounter, but yet, has been a challenge too. These encounters (inside and outside the dance field) have made me question the responsibility we has as educators and what are the power structures or hierarchies hidden in educational contexts.

Although my background comes from dancing, I’ve never went thru a traditional dance education that valued for example classical ballet as the core form for training a dancer. The education had strong appreciation towards somatic & improvisational techniques and underlining other holistic approaches when training a dancer’s body-mind. I feel this has shaped immensely my thinking and understanding of ´what is dance´. During my further studies, I researched ´how to use dance as a tool to foster change in individuals, and therefore in communities’ while figuring out how to share and transfer the knowledge in dance to others. This journey has made my beliefs, based on personal experiences and embodiment relies on ´movement as a teacher´.

I perceive teaching rather as facilitation; instead of telling others how to do things ”right”, rather providing a safe environment, a container, where participants can access the teacher within themselves. Yet, I do question and find it difficult how not to impose the students with my values, but to maintain openness for them to develop their voice within. Here, some of the things and values I wish to continue contemplating whenever I teach, and especially now in the context of TTT that provides a rich meeting place with peers from the international field of dance education. I don’t claim to master them, but committing with them as a daily practice. I am looking forward to see what will be the harvest afterwards.

Shortly below, the four guidelines that compose my teaching library, which I will be happy to share and discover deeper (here presented as separate units, where as in reality the information, tools and knowledge overlaps, depending on where and whom I am working with):

1)     Improvisation, Composition & Performance: practice of understanding space, time, and dynamics as well as gaining understanding about the range of relations within, and what surrounds us. During these classes, we focus with strengthening the access to our creativity, getting familiar with our choice making processes, including compositional tools from solo work to ensemble and performance skills from work with states, emotional body, etc.

2)     Contact Improvisation: practice of various skills, such as following the point of contact, receiving and giving weight, playing with touch, the level of the tone in the body, gravity, fall, momentum while sharing physical contact with one or many others. CI also supports the ability to listen, let go, and helps us to gain greater awareness of the moment, etc.

3)     Contemporary Dance Technique: draws influences from different release based techniques and floorwork, appreciates effortlessness of moving body, building functional relation with gravity while engaging combinations that deal with breath, articulation, directions in space, change of level, locomotion, rhytmicality, etc.

4)     Strength and Stretch: based on yoga, draws knowledge from other somatic approaches to movement and body that support gaining greater physical and emotional strength, awareness and balance of the body and mind, etc.