Welcome to this double bill with Frederic Gies, featuring «Terpsicore in Scorpio – Deposition» and «Hope: Chiron in Aries (Recital #2)». 

We saw the intermission between the changes of sets as an opportunity to introduce you to something that is present in both of Gies’ performances – the zodiacs.

We have invited astrologer Daniele Reistad to give us an introduction to the zodiacs, with elements from her own concept Dancing the Zodiacs. Enjoy some complimentary refreshments in our café while we learn a little more about astrology through dance.

18:00: Terpsicore in Scorpio – Deposition
19:00: Introduction to the Zodiacs (Dancing the Zodiacs) with Daniele Reistad + Intermission
19:45: Hope: Chiron in Aries (Recital #2)

TERPSICHORE IN SCORPIO –DEPOSITION

In Terpsichore in Scorpio –Deposition, I want to offer a personal testimony of my thirty years of work in the dance field. I started to work professionally as a dancer in France in the fall 1991 and since then relocated myself twice: first to Berlin and then to Sweden. Living and working in three different countries over three decades gave me the chance to come across many trends in the dance field and to be in touch with very different patches of dance history. I had the chance to encounter so many dancers, some of which left permanent, indelible traces in me. My body is the receptacle of these many influences. In this new piece, I want to bring to the surface all the traces that these dancers I encountered and the dances I have danced or seen have left in my body. 

I want to offer my body as a living, somatic archive of thirty years of dance –thirty years of dance that occurred not only on stage or in the studio, but also on the dance floors where I danced for countless hours. The dances that will constitute this piece will originate in my deepest kinesthetic memories, in these sediments left by movements I have danced or seen. The sometimes intact, sometimes putrefying dance materials contained in my body will constitute the fertile soil for the dances of Terpsichore is Scorpio –Deposition.

In the title, deposition refers to the legal term describing a written document that consists of the testimony of a witness, which might be used in court. Terpsichore not only refers to the muse of dance in Greek mythology but also to the asteroid Terpsichore. Scorpio, in astrology, represents death, rebirth, transformation and regeneration. It is also associated with deep emotional experiences. In my astrological natal chart, the asteroid Terpsichore is located in the sign Scorpio. My 30th anniversary of work in the dance field will coincide with the return of the asteroid Terpsichore to its placement in the sky when I was born.

Choreography and dance: Frédéric Gies
Dancers (in the videos): Elise Brewer, Disa Krosness, Maria Naidu, Malin Stattin, Andrea Svensson, Thomas Zamolo
Music: Fiedel
Lighting design: Thomas Zamolo
Costume: Grzegorz Matlag
Videos: Andrea Keiz (editing) and Frédéric Gies (filming)

Coproduced by Inkonst and Skogen | Residence at Danscentrum Syd, Inkonst and Skogen | with the support of The Swedish Arts Council and the city of Malmö.

HOPE: CHIRON IN ARIES (RECITAL #2)

Hope is the second piece ofthe Chiron in Aries cycle of pieces. After the sacrificial and wounded dances of struggle and resistance and the dystopian world suggested in Warriors, Hope is an attempt to conjure up a new world from the ashes of a past one. Revolving around the theme of queer kinship, the piece is conceived as a ritual, a gathering of queer witches. The dances evoke ritualistic folk dances, not existing ones but phantasmic ones. Although these dances are reminiscent of classic representations of such dances in archeological artifacts and in popular representations, they are imaginary.

The piece takes the mythology and the astrology of Chiron (the centaur also known as the wounded healer) as a poetic framework for addressing topics revolving around queerness, sense of self, wounds and the capacity to heal them.

In Greek mythology, Chiron was a Centaur raised by Apollo who initiated him to the arts of healing, music and prophecy, that which makes him differ from the other violent and unruly Centaurs. When he got injuredby a poisoned arrow, he was left with a wound that never healed.In astrology, the minor planet Chiron is called “the wounded healer” and represents our deepest wounds and our capacity to heal. The sign Aries represents the ego, willpower, desire and the warrior within us. When Chiron is in Aries it addresses our deepest wounds in relation to our sense of self.

Choreography: Frédéric Gies
Dance: Samuel Draper, Andreas Haglund, Elizabeth Ward, Declan Whitaker
Music: Fiedel
Lighting design: Thomas Zamolo
Costumes: Grzegorz Matlag

Coproduced by Inkonst and Weld | Residence support by MARC | Supported by The Swedish Arts Council and the city of Malmö.