Absurd ballet
In collaboration with Maria Livadina, opera singer.
Unloved objects are being cherished by the delicate virtuosos. In this project, artists explore the properties of the system and embody vulnerability inside the totalitarian structure. Through working on the perception of the body involved in disciplinary practices, they reveal how a repressive system can shift to horizontal interaction and discover the space in between as a possibility for transformation.
In this work, the duet attempts to escape predictable performance venues, choosing an urban environment over a safe art space for the show. Unlike the site-specific approach, they are not interested in a particular urban space. Rather, their main question is whether the specific urban system allows the performance to appear.
This performance is composed of two distinct parts, which can be presented individually or combined into a single show-ballet.
Act I: Pas de deux, performed by two performers and an opera singer
Through the competition between several solos simultaneously performed in the same space, artists rethink communication with day-to-day ugly objects and attempt to deconstruct the hierarchy between human and non-human interaction. This part of the performance seeks to reconsider the normalisation of things, discovering hidden qualities of the objects such as fragility and ambitions. This is a work about the touching nature of discovered objects, surrounded by totalitarian normality.
Act II: Corps de ballet / Horror-choir, performed by eight performers and a choir of six singers
Act II reflects on the necessity of virtuosity. Dancers invent the most senseless actions for their exceptionally trained performance. In this part of the performance, the artists attempt to figure out whether there is a choice for the corps de ballet, the choir, or an object, and how scenery is perceived by itself without an act. They also explore whether a collective performance can be considered a solo.
Choreographers: Natasha Zhukova, Ekaterina Volkova.
Performers: Masha Livadina, Daria Pasichnik, Nu Simakina, Lucien Lubimova, Evgeniya Fomina, Marina Shilina, Maria Tirskaya, Zakhar Semirkhanov, Anya Tsedik, Anastasia Rossokhina, Alina Lotkova, Zlata Arefyeva, Pavel Ovchinnikov, Alex Havran, Filipp Balayan.