Dance, as you like it
German dancer-choreographer Moritz Ostruschnjak on his journey from street to stage
Moritz Ostruschnjak brought Tanzanweisungen (It Won’t Be Like This Forever) to Bengaluru. The dance was presented as part of Attakkalari India Biennale 2024 at Bangalore International Centre.
The dance, featuring Daniel Conant, is a 30minute selfreflective solo piece with ironic references that defy any specific definition.
The India tour of this project is supported by the Bavarian State Association for Contemporary Dance (BLZT) with funds from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.
Moritz ventured into contemporary dance through breakdancing. He studied at Iwanson International (Munich) and completed his training with Maurice Béjart in Lausanne. He has been working as a freelance choreographer since 2013 and is known for his works titled, Island of Only Oneland, Text Neck, BOIDS, UNSTERN and AUTOPLAY.
He talks about his tryst with different dance styles and how they have influenced his works.
Question: You started off as a graffiti artist. How did the transition from a visual to a performing art happen??
Answer: It was a gradual process. I started graffiti at 13 and it was there that I discovered hip hop and breakdancing. It was later that I moved to Munich, which happens to also have one of the largest breakdancing communities. We trained everyday and danced at metro stations. This was 25 years ago, when there was not much training for street dance or breakdance. I also had a friend who would share with me videos of ballet, break dance and contemporary dance. This is how my passion and journey went. I studied ballet at 19 and four years of contemporary dance and soon was working and dancing professionally. Q: Do you bring in aspects of graffiti into your dance?
A: I do not associate myself with any one particular art form or dance style. One thing I do feel closest to is contemporary dance. Because it is an open form and I believe my work, even today, is influenced by my days in hiphop culture. Q: Do you still dance or just focus on choreography?
A: I am more into choreography. Much of my time and energy goes into organising and touring with my dance pieces. So I do not find the time to dance. Q: In Indian classical dance, we have a guru who teaches. As a teacher yourself, how much freedom is given to the dancer, how much of your ideas are imposed on them? Or do you just act as a facilitator?
A: I am not a fan of the term ‘guru’ or this godlike figure. If you look culturally, everything comes from somebody. There is always someone before you who has taken information, worked on it and taken it further. Inventing something out of nothing is a myth. I do not believe in the concept that I am godlike and hence can dictate my creation. I work from a space that says things are already there and you have to make yourself sensitive in order to see those things. My style is more taskbased work. I research and try to come up with certain methods that work with the time that we live in. Then the dancer is given certain tasks. For me, it is important that there is a dialogue between my dancer and me. I am also interested in understanding the movement archive and history of the dancer’s body and the technique that comes with them. Q: What do you think of Indian contemporary dance? Our classical dances are all gravityoriented whereas modern dance is all about defying gravity.
A: It is difficult to define contemporary dance. What is contemporary in
Europe may not be so in India, Japan or Hong Kong. In the dancers I have encountered here, I do see a difference. In Europe contemporary training is more individualised and is based a lot on self expression. In India I see the beauty of classical dance being brought into contemporary dance, and find that amazing. We do not have much knowledge about form or rhythm. In Germany we do not have this traditional background, which is sad and this is where India is unique and I find its influence in the contemporary context extremely interesting.