XX with Alice
The young French dancer Julie Nioche received her
dance education at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de
Danse de Paris, and went on to develop her skills through collaborations
with such important choreographers as Meg Stuart, Alain Buffard, Catherine
Contour, Emmanuelle Huynh, and Jennifer Lacey. In 1996, Nioche, together with
Rachid Ouramdane, co-founded the research and production institute
L'Association Fin Novembre. A psychology and osteopathy student, she also
runs therapeutic workshops for people with eating disorders; in this way, she
connects her studies and her creative work through concentrated reflection on
the body: body image, the transformation of the body and the identity crises
that arise from society's ubiquitous emphasis on the body. "Our investment
in the body seems to reflect the relationship we have with the world"
(Julie Nioche).
The female
chromosome, cell, tissue, organ, body. Interest in the body - its formation and
transformation - is the central theme of XX, a performance that is
"concise, funny, lively, serious, sharp, impertinent, and possesses
hair-raising charm." Julie Nioche is interested in the body, its surface,
the appearance of the mouth, arms, legs, skin… Is the body something composed
of such parts or does each of them lead a separate life? "A wrist erect
like a cockerel, an expectant ankle poised between steadiness and hesitation,
or the perplexed nape of a neck are among the many anecdotes that serve to
dislocate the body of the story" (Herve Gauville, Libération).
The
performance space recalls a sculptor's studio or a cosmetic surgeon's operating
room, as the two dancers (Nioche and Barbara Manzetti) shed their
synthetic skins in an intimate atmosphere and transform their naked bodies
using, among other things, latex prosthetics, herbal pitch and adhesive tape.
The search for the perfect female body intentionally ignores the body as a
subjective space. The concern with external body image and its modification is
a reflection of modern society, which has turned the body into a spectacle by
means of fashion-industry strategies, nutrition and socialisation rules. The
body as we see it or the body as we experience it? The body is trapped in a
paradox, since it serves both as "a closed system and a means of
communication" at one and the same time.
Nina
Meško
XX with
Alice is a performance based on a work titled XX, created by Julie Nioche and
Barbara Manzetti in 2002. The performers will appear in Ljubljana accompanied
by musician Alice Daquet, who recently presented a concert at Nouveau
Casino in Paris. During this improvisation, the performers will re-use
movements from XX, although without the 'folding screens' of the original
version. The two individuals in XX with Alice revive in an attempt to transform
the present: each movement may be understood as a series of inner images just
beginning to form. How do you find your way within the paradox of the body (the
subject of both communication and reservation simultaneously), if not by
playing with different images linked to images of the visible body.
Concept:
Julie Nioche
Performed by: Julie Nioche, Barbara Manzetti
Sound improvisation: Alice Daquet
Technical operator: Jean Michel Hugo
Production management: Association Fin Novembre
Organisation:
City of Women
In co-operation with: Cankarjev dom
With the support of: Adria Airways
