MINQ: “I discovered things about my own physicality”

With ilDance’s BACK2BACK tour less than two weeks away. We speak to MINQ, from the cast of Schism.

MINQ is a Sound Artist, Sound Designer, DJ, Radio Presenter, Yoga and Mindfulness Instructor and independent researcher living in Berlin, who speaks to us about their artistic background, the new experiences and challenges of working on this project and what they hope Schism will deliver to the audience.

Schism is a multidisciplinary dance work, created by Israel Aloni and cast, that explores our acceptance of the limits of existence and how it affects our perception of the world.

Full details of the BACK2BACK tour, celebrating 10 years of ilDance, and tickets can be found here.

Given the nature of Schism and its multidisciplinary approach, your role in the project seems very interesting. Can you share a little about your background and artistic work?

MINQ: My background in music goes back to when I started playing piano when I was six, until the age of 17, and during that time I also picked up a violin, which never stuck, then I played trombone when I was 11 for ten years.

When I went to university, I went to more of the organisational side of music, booking concerts, organising events, working with musicians in that way at a jazz venue in New Orleans, which was a pretty incredible experience.

Also during that time, working with musicians but not being a musician, I realised I didn’t really like this side – I want to be where they are. So in 2014, I started to take DJing more seriously, that picked up and when I left the US in 2016, I started working at a radio station and at some point I was a full-time DJ in Berlin.

In 2018, I started learning music production, music for performances at theatres. I remember the first production I worked at was actually before I learned it. I was really in the theatre as a DJ, which was interesting, I just made a mix for the performers which was all I really knew how to do.

Since then, I have been keeping up with music productions at the Open Music Lab a community-run project in Berlin that is free for the students and offers a place for Berlin’s diverse communities to connect and create together. So I have been learning from teachers there and now I am still doing a lot of music production for theatre, I have leaned into sound art in the past year and a half.

And in the last year I have begun my own series of workshops on the mindfulness of sound, which came out of a research project where I was studying sound-based mindfulness practices like Deep Listening and reimagining them for my peers, queer and trans Black and Brown people who live in urban areas, called Sonic Utopias Research Lab. That and my music production are where my focus has been at the moment.

That is quite an array, fascinating.

MINQ: It is really long and really diverse but to me it all seems connected.

MINQ | Photo: Hedda Axelsson

And in that theatre piece where you first went into production, what kind of work was that and was it something you had been thinking of delving into?

MINQ: It was a dance piece, thankfully it was very dance heavy and I was fortunate to have that as my first experience as it worked out, because the one I did after that is something I could not have done without learning production. There was more recording and sound editing, everything that I did not have the skills to do six months before.

I don’t think I was thinking about going into this work at the time. Back then, I had just been working for an artist and spent a year building an archive of 40 years of art. I had just finished that and was in a position of not knowing what I was going to do but I was DJing at the premiere party of a show at a theatre here in Berlin and the director said “I love this so much, I want you to be more involved here.”

I thought, great, I’ll get to DJ more premieres but then he calls me with a performance project that he thought I would be good to do the music for. I figured I needed a job, so I would say yes and figure out how to do it later, at the time I never really considered sound design, my focus was on DJing.

And how did you initially come into contact with Israel and eventually, Schism?

MINQ: That is another interesting story. At the end of 2020, I found myself at an artist residency, collective living space in Brandenburg. I had gone there to do a residency that got cancelled once I arrived because of COVID. But they invited us to stay, seeing as we were here already, so I did and met another choreographer who was in a network with Israel.

In that network, Israel said they are looking for a musician, who is comfortable with movement. The person at the residency recommended me, so Israel and I had a couple of meetings in Berlin, at first just to talk and share ideas. We had planned to go into the studio but COVID got in the way again, so we kept talking and then went into the project on a wish and a prayer that it was going to work out.

So we had to trust each other here and I had to trust myself that if I got into a terrible situation, I could deal with that – either this is going to be good or bad and I will be fine. But I was really curious to see how it would be and thankfully, I was fine.

MINQ in rehearsal for Schism | Photo: Hedda Axelsson

What can you say about the creation process and your role? When it comes to movement, was it something that evolved as the weeks went on or did you know you’d be so involved from the start?

MINQ: No, I didn’t think I’d be so active in terms of movement, I don’t think anyone did. When we got in the studio together and were doing these warmups every day, it was the first time I had been in a space to move like that and the first time these people had seen me move. So I discovered things about my own physicality and these people I’m working with, who know I’m coming in as a musician, are also learning about me moving.

It was a surprise for us all, that was very nice. It was also a challenge to figure out how I fit in as a musician who can move but working with professional dancers, who have dance education and experience working in this environment.

There were benefits to that as I don’t have much outer influence on how things should look, I have an open mind to explore. But there were moments like learning choreography that were challenging but at the moment it was me against myself. I remember the beginning of Mallorca as the most difficult as it was really the beginning of learning choreography and that made me confused in a way I have not felt in a really long time.

My mind is in knots, I don’t know what is left and right anymore and I feel like I am slowing everything down. I separated myself a bit then but people were very warm and welcoming, asking me to get involved and help, which allowed me to ask them to show me things again and again and again. Being so new at something is something I haven’t experienced in a long time, so it was very humbling.

Also, I do know music and need them to learn some things, so it was a balancing act between me learning movement and them learning sound. Everyone had the chance to be an expert and a novice, which was a nice mix of roles.

Was there a point where it felt like it clicked for you?

MINQ: I don’t think it ever clicked but I leaned into not knowing, which made me feel a lot more comfortable by the end of the first process. No one is expecting me to be a professional dancer but that was harder to swallow at the beginning.

How did it feel working with Israel and the cast? Do you feel your perspective and involvement has made them think differently about how the work is perceived?

MINQ: It was interesting and what I guess I mean by that is, usually when I’m working in this context, I am outside the creation process and then the choreographer is telling me what kind of sounds they need. So I’m mixing and delivering them, get feedback, change and deliver again, but maybe I only go to rehearsals once or twice before seeing the finished piece.

Typically I’m working alone, I’m not part of the day-to-day involvement, so this is a big difference as I’m there from the beginning. I felt that I had a better understanding of what was happening and give more input about what is needed instead of just hearing what is needed. Being the non-dance world person, I felt like I didn’t have some of the customs or set ways of behaving in a space and I’ve learned things and behaviours that you pick up in dance education just because it is the culture. That was helpful at times as I could ask why we were doing this, because everything is new and I’m questioning it all, leading to some discussions as a group on why are we doing this.

Israel Aloni and MINQ in rehearsal for Schism | Photo: Hedda Axelsson

Ahead of the tour at the end of September and beginning of October, what has been running through your mind?

MINQ: The main thing running through my mind before getting back together was what is this show going to look like, because I’m sure there will be changes compared to when we departed after the first creation process and I’m curious. Everyone has lived life since then and that affects what we bring into the space, so I am really curious to see what happens and what turns out to be.

I’ve never worked in this way, where you create, create, create, then separate and finish it. My process is usually that I work, work, work, think I’m done, sleep on it and realise I hate it and create something new and that happens in a very condensed period of time.

What is your soft invitation for people to come to see Schism on the BACK2BACK tour?

MINQ: I think it will make your brain work. I hope that it will not only be nice to look at but also make a discussion, with one’s self or with someone else. I hope that it gets people’s minds turning on the topics they see and what it moves inside of them. And I think it will do those things.