Stream “M” of the series Twenty Looks or Paris is Burning at The Judson Church, (M)imosa starts from this premise: “What would have happened in 1963, in New York, if a figure of the Harlem voguing scene had come down to Downtown to dance alongside the pioneers of post-modern dance? “. Trajal Harrell, Marlene Monteiro Freitas, François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea foment a hybrid show, a sum of questions and answers in the form of a performance for four bodies, rich in pop solos, stirring up half a century of choreographic claims. What is a norm, a contemporary dance, an overtaking? Since then, (M)imosa turns into a parade, a tribute to the ballrooms of the voguing scene, to the legendary documentary by Jennie Livingston, Paris is Burning, as well as the research of the Judson Memorial Church and the proponents of post-modern dance. A wildly inventive association of gestures and sounds.
Last Harrell
New York choreographer, Last Harrell gained international recognition by creating a series of works that bring together the tradition of voguing – a style of modern dance developed in the late 1980s from the Harlem ballroom dance scene – and postmodern dance. In his most recent research, the artist combines theoretical ideas from voguing with gestural and formal ideas derived from butō dance, conceived in Japan in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Weaving links between two seemingly distant dance cultures, the artist places the body at the center of her research, exploring how it becomes a receptacle for memory, the past and the historical figures that inspired this work. Intertwining the notions of time, history and cross-cultural references, it reveals the multitude of strata that make up the richness of the history of contemporary dance. His work has been presented at the Milan Triennale (2023), Ludwig Forum (2022), MUDAM (2022), Holland Festival (2022), Kunshalle Zurich (2022), Fondation Cartier, Paris (2021), Biennale de Sao Paulo, among others. (2021), Lafayette Anticipations (2021), Gwangju Biennale (2021), Impulstanz Festival, Vienna (2021), Manchester International Festival (2019), Ludwig Musem, Cologne (2019), Kanal Pompidou, Brussels (2019), Festival d’ Autumn, Paris (2019), The Kitchen, New York (2018); The Barbican Center London (2017), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2017), Tanz im August, Berlin (2017), Documenta Parliament of Bodies (2017), MoMA, New York (2016), Festival d’Avignon (2016), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2016), Center Pompidou, Paris (2015), Stedelijk Museum and Holland Festival (2014), Center Pompidou-Metz (2014), MoMA PS1 (2013), Performa Biennial (2011), and The New Museum – New York (2009).
Currently Harrell is co-director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich and founder of the Schauspielhaus Zurich Dance Ensemble.
Marlene Monteiro Freitas
Originally from Cape Verde, Marlene Monteiro Freitas studied dance at PARTS (Brussels), ESD and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (Lisbon). She has worked with many choreographers, including Emmanuelle Huynh, Loïc Touzé, Tânia Carvalho and Boris Charmatz. His creations include, among others, THERE (2022 with Israel Galván), ÔSS (2022 pour Dançando com a Diferença), the performance Idiot and the exhibition X AND (2022 around the painting of Alex Silva), Lunar Pierrot (2021 with Klangforum Wien and Ingo Metzmacher), Evil-Drunkenness Divine (2020), l’installation Bad (2019), Canine Yellowish 3 (2018 for Batsheva), Bacchantes-Prelude for a Purge (2017), Jaguar (2015), Of ivory and flesh-The statues also suffer (2014), Paradise-Private Collection (2012), (M)imosa (2011 with Trajal Harell, François Chaignaud and Cecilia Bengolea), Guintche (2010), The Seriousness of the Animal (2009), One and Other (2008), The Improbability of Certainty (2007), larvae (2006), First impression (2005), works whose common denominators are openness, hybridity, impure and intensity. In 2015 she co-founded P.OR.K, a structure that produces her work. In 2017, the piece Jaguar receives the SPA choreography prize and she is distinguished by the government of Cape Verde for her cultural achievements. In 2018 she received a Silver Lion from the Venice Biennale, in 2020. The piece bacchantes receives the award for best international choreography by Les Prémis de la Critica de les Arts Scenics de Barcelona. In 2022, she is distinguished by the Chanel Next Prize and the Evens Arts Prize. Since 2020, she has been co-programmer of (un)common ground, a project around the territorial and artistic inscription of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Francois Chaignaud
Graduated in 2003 from the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, Francois Chaignaud has collaborated with many choreographers (Alain Buffard, Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle Huynh or Gilles Jobin). Since 2004, he has led a multiple career as a dancer, choreographer, singer, actor, historian and cabaret artist. His work, very early marked by the articulation of song and dance (My thoughts, 2013), is also nourished by in-depth historical research for his own pieces as well as for the many collaborations he leads (with Jérôme Marin, Marie Caroline Hominal or Théo Mercier). From 2005 to 2016, he created with Cecilia Bengolea several shows including Sylphides (2009), (M)IMOSA (with Trajal Harrell and Marlene Monteiro Freitas, 2011) and Dub Love (2013). In 2021, he founded Mandorle Productions, affirming an approach marked by numerous cooperations. He creates with Nino Laisné Romances inciertos, another Orlando (2017), then Symphony of Harmony of Heavenly Revelations (2019) with Marie-Pierre Brebant. In 2020, he co-signs GOLD SHOWER with butoh icon Akaji Maro, and creates A bolero with Dominique Brown. His work also extends to group pieces, in 2018 he created Blow gun for the Norwegian ballet Carte Blanche and in 2022 t u m u l u s, with Geoffroy Jourdain (The Cries of Paris). It created in June 2023 Processions with the composer Sasha J. Blondeau and will create in October the piece Mirlitons with beatboxer Aymeric Hainaux.
His work is represented all over the world and he is currently an associate artist at Bonlieu, Scène Nationale in Annecy, at Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse in Paris as well as at the Maison de la danse and the Biennale de la danse in Lyons.
Cecilia Bengolea
Born in Buenos Aires, Cecilia Bengolea trained in urban dances and studied anthropological dance before studying philosophy and art history at the University of Buenos Aires and in 2001 joining the Ex.erce training directed by Mathilde Monnier. As a dancer and performer, Cecilia Bengolea perceives dance and performance as animated sculptures and likes the idea that these forms of expression allow her to become object and subject at the same time. Also a visual artist, Cecilia Bengolea collaborates with artists Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Monika Gintersdorfer or Knut Klassen and produces numerous videos — notably Beauty (early) doomed to unraveling and Cri de Pilaga (2011) according to Sad Tropics of Lévi-Strauss or RythmAssPoetry (2015) et Bombom’s Dream (2016) both co-directed with British artist Jeremy Deller. Cecilia Bengolea present in spring 2018 at Bonlieu and deSingel Insect Traina collaborative piece dedicated to the interface between nature and artifice of the human body with Florentina Holzinger.
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