Alt Prepping, 2016

A project by Hamish MacPherson (2016)

Susan_Helms_survival_training

Prepping is the practice of making active preparations for a possible disaster or emergency, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies. But could we think of a kind of ‘Alt Prepping’ that stockpiles aesthetics, movements, relationships and other resources for some unimagined future?

In 2016, Hamish MacPherson ran free monthly one-day events aimed at developing a range of movements as a practice of democratic collective leaning and teaching. These loosely facilitated sessions were a way to exchange knowledge, perspectives and politics through dancing, movement and embodied practices.

But what is it?

This is perhaps deliberately vague because the aim is to see what emerges from the people who are there. 

In concrete terms we spent the day trying out different scores that might involve dancing, moving, talking etc. Anyone could propose things, but you didn’t have to and we could always come up with new things amongst ourselves. 

Through these we found different ways to be together and maybe think about what is important or interesting to us as people.

It was not a rehearsal, nor a reading group. It was rooted in dance practices but open to anyone without any dance training.