Αναστασία Βαλσαμάκη, «W REST L ING»

13^th Dance Days Chania
International contemporary dance festival | July 22^nd - August 2^nd

Anastasia Valsamaki, «W REST L ING» (Greece)

July 29th | 21:30 | "Mikis Theodorakis" theatre

With undiminished interest in the conceptual content of body states, the choreographer Anastasia Valsamaki presents her new work focusing on the different ways to conceive wrestling.

'From combat sports to the competitiveness between two or more opposing forces'.

Although there are several ways of perceiving 'wrestling' in terms of movement, the interest is located in the way the performed actions are classified. If with wrestling we usually refer to the escalating conflict and consequently the discharging of an action, the choreographer Anastasia Valsamaki urges us to see the transition from intensity to repression and its reversal in a 'struggle' that does not divide winners from losers. The reference to wrestling, therefore, is a way of investigating the movement beyond the corporeality of the wrestlers and the theatricality of the event; by possibly combining the 'studiousness' of the choreographic score with its fun and exaggeration.

In this peculiar struggle, five dancers - as a group but also as a quirky ensemble - try to bring together a priori contrasting elements: the initiating explosiveness with the awkwardness of a pause, the refueling of the physical frenzy with the suspension of relaxation, the completion of a pattern that constantly re-articulates by changing its composition. Ultimately, if the goal is to remain 'in the game' by constantly inventing new rules, then the fight comes as a promise to renew what keeps us still in the game, even if, momentarily, every evident goal seems to have failed.

Concept & Choreography: Anastasia Valsamaki

Music & Sound Composition: Jeph Vanger

Dramaturgy: Anastasio Koukoutas

Dancers: Gavriela Antonopoulou, Tasos Nikas (replacement for Nikos Grigoriadis), Sotiria Koutsopetrou, Thanos Ragousis, Xenia Stathouli (replacement for Nefeli Asteriou)

Light design: Apostolos Strantzalis

Styling: Nefeli Asteriou, Anastasia Valsamaki

Production Manager: Eleni Valsamaki

Text: Anastasio Koukoutas in collaboration with MINDTHELOOP

Producer: MINDTHELOOP

Created during Anastasia's Valsamaki Artist Fellowship Program 2020 supported by ARTWORKS and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

With the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports.

PLEASE NOTE THAT STROBE LIGHT IS USED DURING THE PERFORMANCE.

TRAILER: https://youtu.be/3wOHun61uFI

Tickets: 12€ regular - 9€ student, unemployed

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