Reflections on iCoDaCo by ISRAEL ALONI, ILDANCE

By Hedda Axelsson

israel aloni, artistic director, ildance, sweden

The iCoDaCo’s history started already in 2012, and the current project planned for 2024-2027 is already its fifth edition. How did the project evolve and why did you decide to continue? 

The project evolved in its dedication specifically to experimentation with, and development of, methods of collective authorship in artistic processes whilst also finessing its work on practices which attempt to reconcile democracy and artistic rigger.

When Lee Brummer and I started iCoDaCo in 2012 we were mainly motivated by the desire to combat the solitude and isolation that independent artists often experience as they labour through their endeavors. At that point iCoDaCo was a context for radical sharing. It offered artists the opportunity to both have the intense demands of leading independent work be alleviated whilst also engaging in processes of cross pollination as they gained access to other artists’ resources (e.g creative, financial, contextual). The current edition of iCoDaCo still fosters some core aspects of the project's first edition but it also examines and develops other layers of contemporary dance and performance making and presenting in the 21st century. Currently, the project is seeking to develop modes and ways of working across preconceived borders, those between one physical place and the other, those between the physical and the digital and those between the artist and the habitants of the contexts in which they work. 

What was the initial impulse or need that led you to the idea of iCoDaCo? 

The social, political and economical systems of the Western world, often usher artists into competitive realities. The competition is both with peers and colleagues as well as with one self. The constant struggle to stay on the treadmill of leading one’s artistic work can be very demanding and draining to those who are dedicated to the task. It also often results in artists feeling like they are the only ones struggling, the only ones not having the resources necessary to realise their work, the only ones to not be recognised or appreciated enough for their work. 

We felt that there must be another way. Whilst artistic collectives usually form on the basis of notable similarities, and very often of shared history amongst the members, iCoDaCo was initiated in order to foster environments in which artists gather due to their differences. Working in a collective can be a remedy to someone’s loneliness and at the same time an affirmation of their singularity. Through radical sharing the artists both encounter and explore things outside their own “ordinary world” and at the same time they learn about how it is not that ordinary and can be fascinating, intriguing, meaningful and valuable to others.  

What are the main goals of the iCoDaCo 2024-2027 edition?  

Different partners and collaborators in iCoDaCo might have different answers to this question and I believe it is one of the magnificent things in this project. 

From my perspective, it is important to ponder and reflect on the means and ways through which contemporary dance and performance art come into being as well as the way that artists, communities and audiences navigate the proliferating web of the physical and the digital mediums. 

I am very excited about the digital platform that we are developing in this edition of iCoDaCo. I hope that this direct channel from artists to artists would offer a degree of sharing and intimacy which has been a core of iCoDaCo since its start 13 years ago. I am interested in how physical practice can be informed and influenced by data transmitted via digital mediums whilst the experience of the art remains in the physical world. 

The world changed tremendously in the past five decades, however contemporary dance practices have only done so to an underwhelming degree. For me it is important that iCoDaCo 2024-2027 will contribute in some way to the ways in which contemporary dance and performance are conceived and disseminated internationally. 

iCoDaCo 2024-2027 has quite extensive focus, in terms of geography, time, as well as topics to research. As the initiator and project coordinator, how do you manage to keep the focus and course of the project? 

For my part in this apparatus I can say that trust is very important in an intricate organism such as iCoDaCo 2024-2027. It is important in the internal mechanisms of a project, in the way that we invest in the actions we do so they can reverberate in the world as well as trusting oneself that if need be, shifts, changes and adaptations can be performed. 

It is true that iCoDaCo is a relatively complex entity, but it operates in coordination and synchronicity with many people who are dedicated to the project because they sense a meaningful pull towards it. This is related to my previous answer, different people in the iCoDaCo community might have different reasons to be in it or different goals they hope to achieve through it. These differences are precisely what makes this organism “work”. 

I guess the aim is not to keep focus but to remain vigilant and attentive. One can not focus when participating in a multilayered adventure such as iCoDaCo, one has to yield to rhythms and dynamics. I bring in these practices from my experience with dancing. 

How do you evaluate the current iCoDaCo edition so far? 

So far I believe we are “on track”. In such large-scale operations, there is always a process of ascending before it can soar. There is a wonderful process of familiarising ourselves with the team and the particular dynamics and realities that we can create together as a consortium. This process takes time and it can feel really challenging at times, but it is crucial and really sets the tone for the continuation of the process. This process has been really informative and generative. The first activities of the project, including knowledge production residencies, community outreach activities, stating the work on the digital platform and database as well as the continuous professional development program have been going really well and I have been moved a number of times when I realised the magnitude and the depth of the work that is happening in and through iCoDaCo. When we gather with artists from all the collectives at the same time and share reflections, ideas, practices and experiences, I get really humbled and excited about what is lying ahead for us in the project.