THE RADICAL HERMENEUTICS OF MATS EK
THE RADICAL HERMENEUTICS OF MATS EK

Summary/Abstract: Several critics who have taken a close look at Mats Ek's work have noted that at the beginning of his career, although it was no longer fashionable to conceive ballets based on a story, Mats Ek went against the current that postulated the absolute truth that modern choreography is a non-narrative art. He refused to follow the path of innovations that became almost common sense in choreographic art in the 70's but in the same time, his creations represent a case of exceptionalism. The Mats Ek exceptionalism consists in a negative strategy, that he adopted to oppose to the sacrosanct principles of structuring the choreographic discourse in the 19th century. Based on a radical hermeneutics of stories and archetypes that have provided structure and coherence to classical ballet repertory, and despite international acclaim, the Mats Ek art continues to challenge various mental patterns that stop at the surface of the choreographic discourse, while, its descending into deep layers raises some issues of interpretations which have not yet received an appropriate response. Being myself a choreographer and a teacher, my attempt is to frame his innovations from a hermeneutical and phenomenological perspective.

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