Mantautas Krukauskas Sound – professional collaboration So, first of all when we talk and think about sound and when we communicate and work with people that are from music or sound sphere, I think it’s very important to make sure that you use the same vocabulary. And that you understand each other. And maybe it would be the best to talk about the result which you, as a dance or circus artist want to reach. And then the professionals in sound and music can help you find the best way on how to do that. So, I mean it’s not always that some kind of concrete suggestion or concrete request, ok I need music exactly like this or that would work the best. Maybe it would be better to say ok I need here to create an atmosphere of tension or you know something more abstract. And then in that particular case the sound and music people would feel inspired to explore this more abstract idea and suggest to their understanding one or more best solutions to this. So it’s not like asking for a concrete solution. Because you know we all are professionals in our own craft. And from what I have noticed sometimes when people get too abstract it’s a problem but also when they are too concrete it is also a problem, so you know, it’s finding the right balance in this. Now, when we talk about sound it’s very important to understand that we are talking about quite an abstract medium. Which of course has a universal kind of aspect to it. Like somethings affects all people similarly. But on the other hand although it’s something which is said to be connected directly to the human emotions it’s kind of right because it’s also triggers some of the, let’s say, associations in the brain which also connects with the emotions. But it’s also very much a cultural thing. So, it’s very important to think about the context of the culture, of the sound and music you are working with. And what does it communicates. Also what kind of audience do you have or you are aiming for. This is very important. And of course, it’s always nice that you have this individual layer. Where there could be individual associations of audience members related to one or another thing. Of course it’s true for everything but sound tends to be let’s say even more abstract. So, another thing which is quite useful to take into account is that sound is very much related to space. As much as movement in circus, dance theater and choreography and so on. They are also very much related to space. So, although sound is invisible space is an extremely important part. Like, where is the sound coming from. It can make a huge difference although we don’t think about that. But it’s really a big difference which direction, how it reverberates. Is the space very reverberant or not. Also, the dance and circus artists they also create natural sounds when they are performing. You know it all creates the joints you know, that affects the audience. And the thing about space is that it is important. And maybe the last thing I would mention is that sound and music has this really close relationship to gesture and to movement. It’s how our brain interprets music, sound and movement together and separately. Generally it’s a very natural thing to connect it for us. Maybe that’s why, as I have noticed dancers, circus artists and musicians usually find the fastest way to communicate between themselves and understand each other. So, we are kind of cousin disciplines. But we can also build on that. Now days we are often working with contradictions and contrasts and kind of conceptual displacements dispersion of things. So, I think it’s a very interesting thing to explore. But also interesting to remember that we have this relationship. This natural relationship between sound, movement and gesture. Well, it’s all energy you know.