CURATING

Gathering ideas and connecting people, while emphasizing collaboration and conversation, Victoria curates dance-based events. She began experimenting in this field in Seattle between 2012-2015. In Berlin, Victoria connected in 2017 with Gabi Beier of ada Studios and continues to curate through ada Studios' series "NAH DRAN extended" series.
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Curation Projects

REVIEWS OF PAST CURATION

Her most recent performance curation was "NAH DRAN extended: endings" from April 2020 and included a residency format with Berlin-based choreographers and performances April 25-26, 2020. Full press infos here: https://ada-studio.jimdofree.com/performances/performance-2020-april/
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​Pandemic UPDATE / How NAH DRAN will adapt - In response to the current pandemic situation in Germany and beyond, which necessitates that ada Studio stays closed, the artists of “NAH DRAN extended: endings” are also taking the situation seriously and adapting to the circumstances. Our plans for a month of residency then performance on April 25-26 for the artists Edith Buttingsrud Pedersen, Victoria McConnell & Rodolfo Piazza Pfitscher da Silva and Nicole Michalla will not be able to happen as originally imagined. Nevertheless, we believe that in this tumultuous world-moment it is important to continue working in healthy ways and it can even be helpful to offer our creative perspectives through movement.
As of March 29th, we have adopted a new rehearsal style with weekly video chat meetings for support and artistic exchange. The residency for each dance artist now literally takes place in their own residences and in whatever space they have available. We are glad to say the performances will still take place on April 25 and 26. However, the format will be digital. We are looking forward to meeting you virtually on April 25-26 to share the process and results from this unexpected, yet exciting new path “NAH DRAN extended: endings” has taken.

Curator's perspective:
As a curator, I think it is easier for me to see the limitations of not being able to gather in public and not being able to use the studio space as an opportunity. This is a situation where perhaps even more people can be reached or invited to experience dance performance than before, because of the possibilities the internet and live streaming offers. On March 29, we had our first artist meeting and instead of introductions and discussing studio rules or schedules we dove into 1. connecting and supporting each other, then 2. ways that we can work at home and digitally and finally 3. how we as artists might want to present the results of our research in a virtual way. We are considering live streaming and pre-recorded video as well as staying open to what the creative process will bring. I think this situation has highlighted the value and importance, even more, of the Artist Check-In Meetings as we are more isolated than usual and the support even more valuable. Gabi has been wonderfully positive and supportive in all of this and we are hopeful that it will be possible to work and live stream from ada Studio after April 20th but if not, we are prepared to venture into full virtual performance or presentation.

NAH DRAN extended: endings
Kuratiert von Victoria McConnell
25./26. April 2020 - 20:30

Die Reihe „NAH DRAN“ präsentiert in regelmäßiger Folge neue oder weiterentwickelte kurze Stücke junger Tänzer*innen und Choreograf*innen, wobei die Grenzen zu Körper-, Sprech- und Musiktheater sowie Performance offen sind. Sie bietet den Künstler*innen eine Plattform, um ihre Stücke (möglicherweise erstmals) in einem abendfüllenden Rahmen dem Berliner Publikum zu zeigen. „NAH DRAN extended“ heißt, dass die Arbeiten unter einem speziellen kuratorischen Aspekt ausgewählt wurden.
Diese Ausgabe wurde von Victoria McConnell kuratiert, und sie nimmt verschiedene Aspekte von Zeit, Tod und Ende in den Fokus.
Ist es schon vorbei? Ein Ende zu finden könnte schwieriger sein, als es sich anhört. Das Publikum weiß vielleicht, wann die Lichter ausgehen. Aber wie entscheidet die Künstler*in, dass das Stück fertig ist? Es gibt Konventionen, um ein Kunstwerk oder eine Performance zu einem Ende zu bringen. Das Timing ist entscheidend. Die Bedeutung ist gefragt. Aber wann ist der richtige Zeitpunkt, um ein Stück zu beenden oder eine Karriere oder etwa eine Firma zu schließen? Und das Leben selbst: Der Tod ist das endgültige und unverrückbare Ende. Ohne Ende verliert die Zeit, entweder die der Erfahrung oder die der Uhr, ihren Sinn. Technologie kann eine Art Unsterblichkeit herstellen, eine Halbwertzeit im Film oder im Foto. Kann man in Zukunft die Zeit dehnen oder das Sterben vermeiden? „NAH DRAN extended: endings“ konzentriert sich auf diese Überschneidungen von Zeit, Tod und Ende und schafft Raum für Fragen nach Zyklen, unendlichen oder endlichen Schleifen, Reaktionen auf den Tod und die Wahrnehmung der vergehenden Zeit.
Nicole Michalla, Edith Buttingsrud Pedersen und Victoria McConnell entwickeln in einer dreiwöchigen Performance-Residenz ihre individuellen Recherchen und teilen ihre künstlerischen Prozesse. Jede Künstler*in bringt ihre* eigene Perspektive und ihren* eigenen Fokus auf das Thema des Endes ein: Nicole Michalla gräbt in den Schichten der Psyche und der menschlichen Besessenheit von Abschlüssen. Edith Buttingsrud Pedersen reist durch verschiedene Arten von „Enden“, um die Idee von Vollendung und die Angst vor dem Ende zu hinterfragen. Victoria McConnells Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Beziehung zwischen Tod und Zeit, unter Berücksichtigung einer nicht-menschlichen Sicht auf Fortschritt.

“NAH DRAN” is a performance series for Berlin based emerging choreographers. It provides an opportunity to present new pieces (probably for the first time) to an audience. NAH DRAN has its focus on dance pieces but is also open to multidisciplinary works. It assembles 3 pieces by different young artists in one performance evening. “NAH DRAN” (“close to”) means that there is literally no gap between performers and audience what offers a chance to meet on an equal footing. “NAH DRAN extended” means that the works were selected under a specific curatorial aspect.
This edition is curated by Victoria McConnell and focuses on different aspects of time, death and ending:
Is it over yet? Finding the ending may be trickier than it sounds. The audience may know when the lights go down. But how does the artist decide the piece is finished? There are conventions for bringing an art work or performance to a conclusion. Timing is crucial. Meaning is sought after. But when is the right moment to end the piece, the time to close the company, or end a career? And life itself: death is the final and most definite ending. Without an end of some kind, time, either experience or clock, loses its meaning. Now technology can give a kind of immortality, a half-life in film or photo. In the future, can time be stretched, or dying be avoided? “NAH DRAN extended: endings” focuses on these intersections of time, death and endings. Through a residency and performance format in ada Studio for three Berlin-based artists, this NAH DRAN extended makes space for questions of cycles, infinite or finite loops, reactions to death, and perception of passing time.
Through this residency and performance format the three artists, Nicole Michalla, Edith Buttingsrud Pedersen and Victoria McConnell, will have 3 weeks of studio time to develop their individual research as well as to engage with each other, sharing their artistic processes and feedback. Each artist brings their own particular perspective and focus to the theme of endings: Nicole Michalla digs into the layers of psyche and the obsession with closure. Edith Buttingsrud Pedersen journeys through patterns of ending to question the idea of “completion” and fear of ending. Victoria McConnell’s work busies itself with the relationship between death and time while considering a nonhuman perspective on progress.