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LETTER
TO INTRODUCE THE CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND FOR THE CONCEPT “RESPONSIBLE ANARCHY” This
letter was written in a particularly stressful moment for my work. Having been very
open in discussion with a number of people regarding the concept, “Responsible
Anarchy,” I was dismayed to see those words as the title of an article written by my
friend and close collaborator in The European Dance Development Center, Aat Hougee.
Aat had submitted his article untitled, and the title had been supplied by the editor,
Johannes Odenthal, after a discussion with Aat and me, where I had told him about the
concept. So Johannes had used “Responsible Anarchy” for the title.
The article was about the School, and had nothing to do with the concept of
“Responsible Anarchy.” I was somewhat upset by this and wrote to Johannes
to explain the background for the concept. He was gracious enough to call and
discuss it with me, and offered afterward a chance for me to write in his magazine, Tanz
Aktuell. I was grateful for this opportunity and for the continued friendship that
followed this encounter. I enclose the letter for two reasons. First, it shows
me as an artist under pressure, which happens frequently because of the positioning and
purpose of my art work as social research, and second, it shows how I would approach a
problem of this sort. I believe RELEASE is a powerful tool to motivate the
individual to act when necessary, within appropriate guidelines, and to prioritize which
actions are necessary to take, and what may just be forgotten. “Responsible
Anarchy” is for me a personal guide for living government coming out of RELEASE. Dear
Johannes, I was dismayed when I saw the title for Aat’s interview. And also
when I heard from a German former student that there has been a book published using the
term “Responsible Anarchy” which credits you with assistance somehow in the
writing. I am sorry not to give the exact title, but I imagine you don’t have
many friends who have recently published using the concept “Responsible Anarchy”
in the writing, and you probably know who this is. “Responsible Anarchy” is a
term I invented to serve the specific needs of my choreographic process as it has
developed over the past five years. Because of my close association at work with
Aat and the fact that I work in an “integrative field of ideas” this
concept has also been useful for application within the organizational overview of the
school. However, even the teachers who work in our school have no direct affiliation
with this concept, and would never say that it describes the work they do. I would like to
inform you of the background and sources for “Responsible Anarchy.”
