2011
As the audience enters the performing space they only see a curled up body resting on a bare stage. At first simply stating its presence in the space, this body is about to set off on a journey of transformation and becoming. It will shape and re-shape itself continuously into a seamless series of figurative shapes to drag the audience into a contemplative journey. You are invited to witness a dancer meander, swirl and wobble through a never-ending flow of representations, to be lead on a meditative ride where images emerge, fuse and disappear relentlessly.
Figurines is the staging of a research that set out to stimulate both the spectator’s propensity to rationally interpret an image as well as her ability to somatically respond to it. It is an exploration on the awakening of a mode of attention in the spectator where sensorial awareness mingles with symbolic concentration.
Figurines is the outcome of a research that Lola undertook as part of her MA in Performance Practices and Research at CSSD. Its creation was joint with the writing of an MA thesis entitled “towards a semiotic and somatic mode of attention in the spectator”. Read MA thesis abstract.
Some press reviews:
“An accomplished piece that makes an impression – literally; as the lights fade to black, we experience an outline of the dancer, a ghost of the mechanical human, burned onto our retinas.” Rachel Donnelly
“An act of solo endurance performance art rather than dance that starts as a hardly visible and quietly abstract figurative shape.” Peter Lindley
Some comments from the audience:
” I found the movement evocative, frightening, beautiful, funny, surprising, delightful, moving. There was a sense of rolling. A stream of movements like the tide. Then when the lights went down I wanted to close my eyes and sleep. Peacefully.”
“Removed, alert in a void. Enhanced focus. Isolation. A start in space”
“Trapped underwater in a thunderstorm. Heavyheaded. 4 am Sunday morning. Hypnotic”
“At times the performer felt like a mirage, something intangible that had no substance”.
Full length Press Reviews + audience’s reaction here.
Direction | Lola Maury
Performance | Aurea Romero Alvarez
Sound composition | Alberto Ruiz Soler
The creation of Figurines was supported by Jerwood Space with subsidised rehearsal facilities.
