Kajsa Sandström / I need a witness to perform

I need a witness to perform (2008) and Noted Appearance (2009) are the results of the collaboration between dancer Kajsa Sandström and photographer David Bergé.

The desire to work together derives from a common interest in looking for ways where photography can merge with movement and stage presence; bringing performance elements into a frame other than the theatre.

In I need a witness to perform dancer Kajsa Sandström explores what it means to perform for different spectators. In front of the camera of her computer she recorded a daily dance practice in different environments. Seen through the camera of David Bergé, this became a strategy to peal off hidden structures of behavior and make the inherent choreography of spaces visible. In the performance she combines the different films with movement, in front of a live audience.

The project Noted Appearance departed from a shared fascination in the creation and lives of images. Material images -such as photographs- as well as imagination and images produced while performing. With a background in photography versus dance, David and Kajsa create a situation in which they are equally present, both in front and behind the camera. What happens if 'le moment décesif' (the moment when time, space and the photographed meet in the frame of the photographer) arises in collaboration? In Noted Apperance The audience is free to position themselves in the space throughout the entire duration of the piece.

Noted Apperance will be performed at Netwerk Aalst, Belgium within the frame of Tranche de vie, 8 oct 2010