RE-CALL (reloaded)
Venetsiana Kalampaliki
What kinds of identity do moving bodies bear?
In the work "Re-call (reloaded)", choreographer Venetsiana Kalampaliki focuses on the identity of the body and on how it is shaped both by the past and by each moment in the present. In a stripped-back scenic environment, the very bodies of the dancers – pitted against time with every step – play the principal roles. Through repetitive movements, moments of pause and acts of walking, the performers define their routes and manifest fleeting stories that fade away like traces in the sand. With her gaze fixed firmly on each separate individual, and taking precision and simplicity as her guide, the choreographer creates human portraits and explores the meaning of the moment as a dimension, both temporal and spatial.
Photo: Sarah Melchiori
The performance "Re-call took" the personal stories of its performers as its starting point and, specifically, the points where their various paths converged. The aim was not to relive these stories or to describe them, but rather to use them as elements of a bodily identity that drives them on stage so as to map out their presence in the space. According to the performance art theorists Gabriella Giannachi and Nick Kaye, to be present is both a physical and mental state that occurs in time and space and which entails not just the present moment but also the immediate past. This is fashioned on stage through the use of the square, an absolutely defined shape that signifies both precision and logic. A square constantly reformed to hold stories, to embrace bodies, and to create in the present: the square as a shape that remains constant while everything changes, bodies mature, and time flows by.
Onassis Stegi and three other European cultural institutions - Skånes Dansteater, Holland Dance Festival and Oriente Occidente – have worked together to commission and present 4 short dance duets In the framework of the Europe Beyond Access network, co-funded by Creative Europe program of the European Union. The Greek duet, Re-call, was presented at the Onassis Stegi in the context of the Onassis Young Choreographers Festival, in 2021. The four duets program was presented in 2020 in Den Haag, the Netherlands (Holland Dance Festival), and in 2021 in Kalamata, Greece (Kalamata International Dance Festival), in Rovereto, Italy (Oriente Occidente) and in Malmo, Sweden (Skånes Dansteater).
Photo: Sarah Melchiori
Photo: Sarah Melchiori
Credits
Commissioned and produced by ONASSIS STEGI, via Europe Beyond Access, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union Supported in touring by ONASSIS STEGI’s “Outward Turn” Program
Onassis Stegi participates in the European program Europe Beyond Access since 2018. The program supports disabled artists to break the glass ceilings of the contemporary theater and dance sectors; to internationalize their artistic innovations and their careers; to develop a network of leading mainstream organizations with a commitment to present and commission at the highest level; to build European audiences interested in high-quality innovative work by Europe’s disabled artists; and to develop tools and understanding in the wider performing arts market.Part of
Co-funded
