An event which consists of the screening of the piece ‘Birds’ followed by a discussion on
choreography beyond the human body on screen.

PART 1, Birds, 2016, Screening
Inês Bento Coelho
Birds is a performative film exploring choreography in everyday life. Filmed in an aviary
in the Highlands with two simultaneous cameras using a documentary approach, the
work captures real life moments, which are later edited to resemble a theatrical
performance. While the birds are flying, jumping, and playing in the space, the eye of
the camera delimitates and chooses what is part of the performance and what is not.
The frame becomes a stage, which the birds can enter or leave as they please,
highlighting everyday moments, and mixing the real with the performative. The film
attends to the non-ordinary in everyday life, exploring the edge between reality and the
potential for construction. A performance of the everyday unfolds in the film in a
contemplative and meditative nature, as nothing else happens in the piece.

PART 2, Post-Screen Talk: On the choreographic beyond bodies
Inês Bento Coelho with Nina Enemark
In ‘Birds’, there are no dancers or human bodies involved in the film. However, the
work is essentially choreographic. Be that as it may, how can we choreograph without
human bodies? How is choreography understood beyond the human figure? In this
session, we will discuss the choreographic elements in ‘Birds’, explore what happens
when choreographic approaches expand to wider contexts of practice and
experimentation, such as the visual arts, and consider the potential of choreography
beyond human bodies. This shared conversation is open to public participation.