PAUSE PIECE

— a witchy dance performance in a gallery setting, inspired by menopause, postmodernism and other mysteries

 

Brief presentation
The prelude to Växprocesser was a horror-mixed fascination with menopause as a physical, mental and social phenomenon. With an updated version of the witch character, the show tackles themes that never age: the impermanence of the body, the power of vanity, and art-making as a survival strategy. The audience can choose between different movement installations* that take place simultaneously in different spaces — just as we are used to moving freely between different exhibition rooms in a museum.

Performance structure
Starting in Room 1, brooms, minimalist choreography and monosyllabic dialogue are used to take the audience on a quasi-ritualistic journey. Then a "relay" begins in rooms 2-4: the dancers start various activities that they circle through in different constellations. This is the part where the viewer chooses between the rooms and get to experience the constant transformation of the installations. The music, which is specially composed for the project, is played from several different sound sources in combination with the dancers' voices and live sound effects.

Intentions
In our digitized world, the unfiltered, direct live performance fulfills an important function. The maturation of the dance medium into an art form that expresses so much more than virtuosity, beauty and youthful energy, entails a growing need for new places for dance experiences. Pause Piece shows up in precisely such non-traditional place for dance. A new audience gets the chance to experience a work by experienced dance artists driven by an investigative approach to body, movement and perception. With improvisational performance attitude and playful seriousness, they put the stigma of menopause in the center of the spotlight in a tribute to the strong — no longer so cute and flexible — female artists who don't give up and who stick together — a praise of the Art Hag!

Target audience
Pause Piece will hopefully attract many of the 50+ women who consume and promote art experiences but who are rarely represented on stage. At the same time, the theme is universal and inviting to a wide audience. The performance is primarily aimed at adults, but curious and creative young people — future "art hags" of all genders — receive redemptive role models through the figures in the performance, counterbalancing  the ideal images that young people are exposed to today. The physical humor, the playful audience participation and the freedom of movement also appeal to children.

Themes/References
One of the project's themes is menopause as "puberty in reverse". Hormonal storms, emotional upheaval and identity collapse lead to transformation, to — as it were — giving birth to a new self. Revisiting the hero-worship and vanity of adolescence, the show's characters try on the outer qualities of pop and art icons such as Yayoi Kusama, Patti Smith and Pina Bausch, thereby donning their courage, strength and endurance.
Visual artist Louise Bourgeois has described how her creative process evolved from "the fear of falling" to "the art of falling" and finally to "the art of hanging in
there". Inspired by her words, the show's choreographic material revolves around the physical (and psychological) concept of counterbalance. The rugged dancers surrender to the force of gravity and the hallmark of modern dance, "off-balance", comes in handy yet again, as they melt, slide and plunge into floors, walls in their version of The Art of Hanging in There.



* Movement installations, Pause Piece:

SWEEP
A pack of post menopausal, post modern dancers sweeps into the museum. With brooms, minimalist choreography and monosyllabic dialogue, they take the audience on a quasi-ritualistic journey.
NETWORKING
In one of the exhibition rooms, a web of gray yarn is being woven. During the performance, different stages of metamorphosis are reached there.
SPA
Clothes and bodies turn into rags for cleansing. And then; a moment of rest, care and reflection.
INVI(N)CIBLE
Along a wall, a hypnotic choreography unfold in and out of a projected image of a skeleton.
STAYIN' ALIVE
One last, wild dance - for the rugged beauty of autumn, the healing power of art and the transformative potential of midlife.