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AEiD: Researching (in/as) Motion
No Questions, Only Answers
Artistic Research Practice & Performance Score | 2019
Developed by Peter Mills within ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe)
No Questions, Only Answers is an artistic research practice, somatic movement score, and methodological proposition. It explores movement as an immediate, generative proposition—treating physical action not as an inquiry or interrogation, but as a direct, present answer.
Conceptual Abstract
What if this collective choreographic practice asks that everyone speak only in question form? What if this collective choreographic practice allows no singular authority to be upheld? What if this collective choreographic practice encourages an individual to go with the collective choreography? What if this collective choreographic practice encourages an individual to oppose, undermine, suggest an alternative or propose reluctance as part of a collective choreography? What if this collective choreographic practice produces the possibility for practicing collective choreography? What if this collective choreographic practice creates a commitment to practicing choreography collectively?
The Practice & Choreographic Score
In artistic research and creative processes, movement is frequently framed as a form of “questioning” or “seeking.” No Questions, Only Answers flips this paradigm.
Inside the studio or performance space, participants operate under a strict choreographic constraint: every movement, gesture, and relational response is treated as a complete answer.
By eliminating the tentativeness of questioning, the practice bypasses hesitation, over-thinking, and analytical freeze. It demands an ethics of immediate commitment, where bodies respond directly to their environment, sound, texture, and one another without waiting for justification or resolution.
Key Methodological Elements
- Immediate Affirmation: Shifting the body’s mode from inquiry (“What if?”) to proposition (“This is”).
- Somatic Velocity: Using continuous physical proposal to bypass analytical doubt and habitual movement patterns.
- Non-Evaluative Relationality: Allowing responses to exist alongside each other without requiring consensus or synthesis.
- Expanded Choreography: Applying the logic of “answers” across dance, text, voice, and collective spatial composition.
Publication & Research Context
This practice was documented, analyzed, and published as part of the ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe) project—a collaboration between Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH), Dance Nation Sweden, and international research partners.
- Publication Title: No answers, questions only / Researching (in/as) motion
- Journal / Platform: Nivel (Teatterikorkeakoulu / University of the Arts Helsinki) & ADiE Platform
- Year: 2019
- Read Full Research Paper: View Article on Nivel / Teak
Applications & Workshop Hosting
No Questions, Only Answers functions as:
- A standalone workshop module for BA/MA dance students and professional performers.
- A warm-up and movement-generation score for collective creation processes.
- An artistic research tool for exploring non-hierarchical decision-making in real-time composition.
Credits & Specifications
- Concept & Facilitation: Peter Mills
- Research Context: ADiE (Artistic Doctorates in Europe) / Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
- Format: Movement workshop, studio score, or research presentation/lecture-performance.
Archival & Workshop Inquiries
To invite Peter Mills to facilitate No Questions, Only Answers as a workshop, laboratory, or research consultation:
Contact: Peter Mills — www.stillpeter.com