Emma

Turning the Gestures of Everyday Life Into Art

Article by Zoey Poll

Photographs and Video by Melissa Schriek

Artwork by Katja Heitmann and her Dance Team

1. Describe the work discussed in the article and the unique challenges – as well as the unique gifts- that come with attempting to archive personal movements?

Katja Heitmann is a dance choreographer who collects people’s personal gestures and mannerisms for her ongoing project, Motus Mori. The habits that one doesn’t notice, such as the cracking of knuckles, nail biting, posture, and tics, are preserved in dancers’ bodies. Heitmann’s team of dancers memorize, perform and act out donors’ gestures, the archive only existing through them, maintaining a movement not naturally your own demands constant practice. Motus Mori honours the uniqueness of individual life; small actions of the dead can be performed and live on through the dancers.

2. Discuss one or two examples of movements in the article – what strikes you about them?

Mahat Arab is a spoken word artist who contributed his “anxiety hands,” a gesture for Heitmann’s project. He does a self-soothing task of cracking the knuckles of his left hand when he’s feeling anxious. In Motus Mori, this unconscious action is carefully studied and preserved. When Arab sees his gesture performed in front of him, it gives him a new sense of ownership of this habit, claiming it as his. What was once viewed as a nervous gesture had been transformed into art, giving him pride and making it meaningful for him. The most striking thing about this specific piece in the project is how it made someone feel better about themselves and how the most intimate parts of ourselves are worthy of being noticed. 

3. Describe the habitual movements/unconscious gestures, tics, etc. of 3 people you know well. How do individual body parts move, and how does the whole body interact? What about facial expressions and emotional valence of the movement? How does body type inform the movement? What do these examples of small movements mean and imply?

When I start to pay attention to the people around me, I notice that almost everyone around me has their special distinctive movements that make them who they are to me. My boyfriend, Jake, has the habit of shuffling his feet while lying down, an unconscious, rhythmic motion that ends up shaking any surface he lies on.  The sound of his feet or socks brushing together has become very familiar to me; it seems like a movement he does when he’s comfy and relaxed. Secondly, my younger sister shows her excitement by flapping her hands in the air, a repetitive hand movement she often does during dinner, especially when she’s happy about her meal. She is the quietest out of everyone in my household, so it makes my heart warm when I see her display how she’s feeling through that motion. Lastly, one of my closest friends since Grade 1 always tilts her head sharply to the side, almost at a 90-degree angle, whenever she’s curious or trying to figure something out. It may sound strange when written out, but it’s acted out very naturally when she does it, sometimes talking and moving around while doing this unconscious gesture. These small, unspoken, habitable gestures all reveal something unique and personable about who they are.

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