|
INvisible PLANET 2000 - 2008 and further
Monica Emilie Herstad in solo, discreet dancing in mediated videoscape, to the most wonderful reviews
"herStay’s "_INvisible _planet" a solo that lies between the expressiveness of butoh, and Robert Wilson’s minimalistic visual concretizing"
-Danjel Andersson, Dagens Nyheter 2001, artistic leader at Nordic Excellence, Göteborg Dans och Teaterfestival
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
herStay is a Norwegian dance company concidered as representing a new department within art dance
herStay is funded in part by governmental and privat fundings which enables continuity in herStay artistic development and growth
_INvisible_planet er en visuell solo-performance med danseren Monica Emilie Herstad hvor møtet mellom utøver og video står sentralt. Her spilles det på aktørens egen tilstedeværelse og de ulike illusjonsforskyvninger samspillet med filmen gir rom for. Som publikum hensettes vi til en følelse av å overvære en drøm, eller visuelle assosiasjoner til ulike lag av minner som gjenleves der og da Invisible panet er en installasjon i tre deler. Tanken er a° skape en nærmere relasjon mellom danser og publikum ved at de beveger seg i det samme, inkluderende rommet.
Tittelen referer til et forsøk på å oppnå harmoni mellom to forskjellige materialiteter, her kropp og video. Er det mulig å danse duett med sin egen avbildning og kan levende bilder forsterke en følelse av korporealitet når de integreres med en kropp i bevegelse?
Koreografien, eller bevegelsesmaterialet, består av både den bevegelige kroppen og de skiftende lys- og bildeprojeksjonene. De virtuelle rommene som konstrueres gjennom lys og videoprojeksjoner påvirker sammen med danser, Monica Emilie Herstad, det virkelige rommet. Nye stemninger oppstår i et stadig skiftende miljø
Invisible planet, is to be experienced as a political performance, depending of the different contexts in which it may appear
As Invisible planet is about unfolding ones own perception of the world we live in, without being imprisoned or violated
The content will change according to the one who observes, the intellectual essence of the Invisible planet will be absorbed differently, viewed from one perspective to another
The side effect is still universal acceptable, as the performance functions like visual healing
Invisibe planet, is about treating the invisible phenomenons, private inside a human soul, or within a diverse society
Flowing through obscure memories or opiniouns, invisible to others, still there"
*********
Costumes, music editing, video directing, choreography, dance and stage design: Monica Emilie Herstad
********* :: she remain honest to her her psychophysical initiatives
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
*********
What the audience say about herStay: "Vital monotony" [Anders Øhrn], "Ambient dance", "New performance", "Dance of energies"
*********
The American arts analysts at NYU Leah Garland says:
"It is a meditation upon and a form of self-interview on how the body reacts to the stress of a high frequency urban life
Within the structure of the live sound and the pre-selected film backdrop, she slightly changes her choreography each night, sometimes more frenetic and others more scilent. But each night, she graces the stage with a quivering body as she explores a fresh disconnection between the isolated limbs and her whole organizm. A forearm may flick itself into space several times as with no thought behind its decision as if it were unaware of its attachment to the rest of the body, as if it could make that decision on its own, movement without agency
Monica Emilie Herstad, whose education is based in classical and modern dance in Oslo and Paris, and butoh in danceperformances by Min Tanaka in Tokyo, explains that she allows her body to move as impulse desires, without visible judgement
The result is both a meditation upon and a form of self-interview on how the body reacts to the stress of a high frequency urban life
Glimpses of her three-quarter exposed legs turned inward awkwardly, indeed rickety, sustaining body upright conveys the frailty of the structures of social supports
While herStay performances are fundamentally personal, it beckons social readings. Sometimes simultanelously, she recognizes her long shaddow against the wall, a gesture that connotes both selfreflection, and a larger social awareness
Her performances at once, are about the state of bodies at these shifting times post September 11th, and, more specifically, about her personal life, one marked by her femininity
Her slender body, her thinness accentuated by her dress and the illumination of the video and lightdesign, looks at moments like the strings of a female puppet
The images beckon contemplation upon the gender codes impacting the body´s response to life in a high-tech world, one informed by power dynamics
In this context, her arm jerks and twist in a repeated readiness to action, it is seen as a resistance to another`s control, yet in its resistance the gesture is revealed feminine. She interrogates the moment of impulse to reveal its social imbrications
The close reading her light and sound performs on her mood and gesture creates a visual and visceral harmony that highlights her subtle whims and subsequent transformations. The presence of the DJ is as is the audience`s, reverberates as her psychophysical initiatives remain honest to her immediate response to changes of conciousness one`s experiences in relationships to others
The Oslo based performer and choreographer Monica Emilie Herstad ushers the new century with her look at the now"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Invisible planet is realized with financial support from the Royal Norwegian General Council NY, FFUK, FFLB, The Arts Council amongst other
The presenting of IN_visible _Planet is syclus oriented, as it´s first presentation was in 2000 at The Bergen International Festival of Culture City 2000 at Grieghallen, and further it was invited to The White Night Festival, performing at the Solstnevorot at Baltiskij Dom Theater Main Stage, from there to Oslo Riksteateret, Ridehuset, Mainstage in October 2000, to Bastardfestivalen at Teaterhuset Avant Garden in 2001, and to the youth festival Upop Festival in Grenland Friteater 2001. Further the work was introduced to different festivals within film and theater, such as at Patravadi Theater in 2006 as the performance 40 minuts videowork was adapted and re-sycled into the solo performance adaption of her work SLOWFLY/ V.i.c.t.o.r.i.a.. presentation in Bangkok, in 2006, in 2008 herStay solo performance work _IN_visible _Planet will be presented in exhibitions, as video stills prints and in a book version, and future touring to come
|
