The Sea Within by Voetvolk/Lisbeth Gruwez
Having finished her highly acclaimed ‘triptych of the ecstatic body’ – comprising It’s going to get worse and worse and worse, my friend, AH/HA and We’re pretty fuckin’ far from okay – Lisbeth Gruwez is changing course.
The eruptive choreographies that established her reputation are now making space for incessantly swirling magma. The Sea Within is a magnetising dance performance in which Gruwez no longer wants to order the chaos, but lets the chaos create or become its own order. Still just as sharp and intense, but no longer zooming in on individuals, she lets ten dancers dissolve in a grand, breathing landscape.
For the first time in her career Gruwez is not dancing her own choreography but selected a group of ten female dancers. Ten powerful lotus flowers that are symbols of connection. Together, they bring a new, contemporary ritual in which the ‘we’ embraces the ‘I’.
As usual, Maarten Van Cauwenberghe is writing the score to this performance, assisted by Elko Blijweert and Bjorn Eriksson. Minimalistic synths and a tingling game with frequencies push their electronic sound design to the bottom of your senses.
concept & choreography: Lisbeth Gruwez
sound design: Maarten Van Cauwenberghe, Elko Blijweert & Bjorn Eriksson
performance: Ariadna Gironès Mata, Cherish Menzo, Charlie Petersen, Daniela Escarleth Romo Pozo, Francesca Chiodi Latini, Giada Castioni, Jennifer Dubreuil Houthemann, Natalia Pieczuro, Sarah Klenes, Sophia Mage & Chen-Wei Lee
light design: Harry Cole
scenography: Marie Szersnovicz
creation: 2018
premiere: 16.03.2018 Nouveau Theatre de Montreuil (Paris)
touring: 2018 - 2020
coproduction: Royal Flemish Theatre, Festival de Marseille / Théâtre Le Merlan, Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis, TANDEM Arras-Douai, Theater Freiburg, Le Fond du dotation du Quartz, La Rose des Vents, Theater Im Pumpenhaus, Julidans, Kunstfest Weimar, CNN Nantes, CDC Toulouse, Tanz im August / HAU Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Vooruit / Campo, Charleroi Danse & Key Performance
residencies: Troubleyn | Jan Fabre, Charleroi Danse, Arts Centre BUDA & Royal Flemish Theatre
supported by: NONA, the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission & the Belgian Tax Shelter
press:
'Not one movement is fixed, and yet everything seems completely worked-out. Like a dynamical painting. (…) The Sea Within is a provisional peak in an unfolding body of work. (…) Both the choreography and the performance is a poetic tour de force that portraits individuality and communality in all its contradictions in such an impressive way that at the end of the evening one can’t stop feeling that one has read a whole book about it. ****'
by Filip Tielens – De Standaard
'The Sea Within is not trying to convince anyone of a certain ideology, nor is it deconstructing or installing a fixed image of women. Therefore it’s anything but just another drop in the ocean of choreographies. (…) With her strength, lightness, physical height and short hair Charlotte Petersen (tanzmainz) radiates both power and fragility and thus fits the striking personalities that Lisbeth Gruwez is searching for in her work.'
by Thomas Hahn – Tanz Magazin
'The Sea Within is a real and 100% female bomb of exceptional sensuality. The total commitment of the dancers, their ‘occupied’ bodies and their irradiant faces form a fascinating and magnetizing halo.'
by Delphine Goater – Res Musica
'One can’t get around noticing the astonishing presence of Charlotte Petersen, powerful but almost a ballerina and therefore at antipodes to stereotypes. “I specifically looked for performers who are powerful and vulnerable at the same time,” states Gruwez.‘
by Thomas Hahn - Danser canal historique
