The beginning of a new season at Dansehallerne sees the return of one of their more popular series, Thousand Threads. For those who are not already familiar with Thousand Threads, it is a series of unique dance performances shown at Dansehallerne. Creative director Bush Hartshorn carefully selects each piece to create a unique show available to Danish audiences exclusively for a limited time.
The next instalment of Thousand Threads is called Playing With Myself, featuring two performances. The first one, Joseph, is by the Italian choreographer Alessandro Sciarroni and the second one, I need a witness to perform, is by Sweden’s Kajsa Sandström and Belgium’s David Bergé. Both pieces incorporate video recordings into their performances, each in their own unique way.
Sciarroni is a renounced dancer and choreographer who also has experience working in the visual arts and theatre. In Joseph, Sciarroni uses chatroulette, a chat website where users are randomly paired together for conversations, to create a unique performance and study the idea of reflection.
The idea is quite simple: he starts chatting to a random stranger who is then both challenged and entertained through Sciarroni’s dance. Sciarroni has his back to the audience the entire time while he explores the concept of reflection: the reflection of his movements on the computer screen and the reflection of his desire in the eyes of a stranger, all of which is projected off a white canvas for the audience to see. The infamous chatroulette is usually not associated with the fine arts, but the idea is intriguing and it will be interesting to see how the interaction between two total strangers plays out in front of a live audience.
Sandström has been dancing professionally since 2004, and since 2006 she has been focused on following her own artistic insight, creating experimental pieces in collaboration with different artists. Many of her works focus on movement and our perception of movement in everyday life, such as her recent solo piece, These Images Are Written On My Body, where she worked with various media to explore different images in everyday lives. In the piece she investigates what makes images tangible: what is the difference between an image and its reflection in the mirror? To do this Sandström uses different medias on stage and even covers her own body in writing.
In I Need A Witness To Perform, Sandström continues to seek out what makes our movements and actions what they are. She does this with the help of pre-recorded material of her dancing in her everyday space, namely her home, and by teaming up with a Belgian artist, David Bergé. By recording herself in her home doing normal routines and then recreating the situation on stage, Sandström hopes to discover a hidden layer – a subconscious meaning behind her actions.
Although both performances use webcams to create unique choreography, they are very different in style. It will therefore be very interesting to see how the two pieces complement each other in yet another magical instalment of Thousand Threads.
In solitude and with strangers
Playing With Myself (part of the series Thousand Threads)
Dansehallerne Pasteursvej 14, Cph K; starts Thu (Sep 19), ends Sep 20, performances 20:00; tickets 125kr, concessions 55kr, www.teaterbilletter.dk; www.dansehallerne.dk