This is a dance thinking about our bodies
What they mean for our salvation
With only the clothes that we stand up in
Just the ground on which we stand
Is the darkness ours to take?
Bathed in lightness, bathed in heat.
(Christopher Owen)

IN SKINNED the dancers surrender to losing safety. They search for the potential that lies within this moment and the chance to get to know ourselves differently. Playing with the desire for control, they explore exposure as a creative act. How much are we ready to reveal? Sensory perception and improvisation are starting points for the creation of movement, as the dancers shift between intuition and instant composition. The raw sounds of their movement, touch and breathing are recorded live and woven into the raw fabric of the piece, creating an intimate experience for the audience.

Skinned examines the moment when our existing safeties are challenged. What happens to us both physically and emtionally? What is the potential of loss of safety? Are we inevitably led by fear or might our surrendering into vulnerability or the un-known allow for a space where we can meet ourselves and each other differently? We would like to define the stage as a place of practice, where we are able to re-think ourselves.

In her artistic research Mirjam Gurtner looks at structured improvisation, instant composition and the interplay between sensation and physicality. Movement is not fixed but defined in each moment. The dancers cannot hide behind set choreography, rather are revealed as humans. Her work searches for the personal in order to point towards what is shared. In collaboration with sound artists she examines the relation between the moving body, its live sound and the audience.

MIRJAM GURTNER works as a choreographer in Berlin, Basel and London. SKINNED premiered at Theater Roxy Birsfelden in October 2018. Recent works include the duet unknowing which toured Switzerland as part of Tanzfaktor 2018, the performance installation DISPLAY for Candoco Dance Company at the Wellcome Collection London and Public Affairs at Kaserne Basel. Born in Switzerland, Mirjam trained at Basel Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.
mirjamgurtner.com

[Source: play bill]

TFB Nr. 1272