Marina Miliou-Theocharaki: Whatever is at stake, I take

Mariana and Marianne write:

"Back in Autumn 2021, 'Whatever is at stake, I take' was created in response to personal and global crises: aloneness, separation (emotional and physical) and pandemic bodies. We explored what the fatigued and urgent physicalities of that very particular moment in history were. We wondered how our bodies, tempos and desires had been modulated by our experience of the pandemic. Using the actions of intimacy from Before, how close could we get to each other? 'Whatever is at Stake, I take' could be read as a goodbye between two people who love each other. It is also a metaphor for the challenging search for intimacy between modular, isolated bodies who long for one another."

A short description of the actions in "Whatever is at Stake, I take":

‘The two performers start at opposite ends of the gallery using a choreographic phrase in cannon to move towards each other. The repetition triggers anticipation. When the two bodies finally arrive close enough to touch, they fall onto one another and embrace. Soon after, Performer A leaves Performer B. Alone, once more. Performer B whistles in a state of despair’ 

"When we met again in November 2022 it took us some time to figure out what our bodies were currently negotiating. What was “now” about for each of us and how was this experience manifested into our physical vocabularies? Since we were dealing with very different emotional landscapes to Autumn 2021, as individuals we also had quite contrasting needs. Finding something that was fascinating to both, and a way of working that suited us involved a lot of creative maneuvering."

Marianne writes:

"In retrospect, I see the first few weeks of our residency were framed with us figuring out some questions:

Like many artists, Marina and I work in a liquid constellation of roles, shifting constantly between choreographer, performer, writer, producer, friends and colleagues. In this context, what work is needed to maintain a relationship of care and closeness while giving space for our individual’s artistic voices and needs? 

And what conditions do we establish so that a duet can unravel but also, have dynamic agency in the process of making?"

This very process became the context for the piece that came to be called ‘holding strategies’. holding strategies generates unnoticed desires while investigating everyday tensions between two bodies. In holding strategies we witness two bodies who have chosen one another and are committed to sharing this time together. The labour of holding and being held becomes an active, visible space of negotiation; one which requires patience and understanding. Role playing dynamics and investigating relationships of power, are active catalysts within the piece. This piece examines the work it takes to be synced, to regenerate desires, to listen, to negotiate, to take space and to let go. Repetitive attempts to reshape networks of personal communication within a relationship of desire and disgust, become the focal point and mirror an instinctive need for friction between two bodies yearning to produce an intimate space for exchange.  

This duet is a collage of poses and physicalities of bodies holding each other in moments of negotiation, support, tenderness, fighting and eroticism. Some situations are copied and pasted from references ranging from the films such as 'Paris, Texas' (Wim Wenders) and 'The Fugitive Kind' (Sidney Lumet), photographs of French sex workers from the early 1900s, boxing matches, Ancient Greek statues and urns, and snippets from our everyday lives. 

Using this bank of references as our context and vocabulary we ask what labour is involved in maintaining authentic closeness.The sound-score composed by Dimitris Patsaros lays its foundations in a pulsing, energetic, electronic beat. This fills the space around the bodies with insistent sonic movement and a sense of expectation. At times, the bodies answer the call of the music with wilder physicalities but in general they stay for extended periods of time in still sculptural positions,  The contrast highlights the tension and rivalry between the bodies.

Interwoven into the track beat are extracts of WhatsApp voice notes between us that give an intimate insight into our friendship, working relationship and the labour involved in making this piece, refusing to let go, and holding on to it. Additionally, the track contains a collage of studio recordings with extracts of texts from our notebooks.