Princess

Eisa Jocson
Big Stage
Dates
28.09.2017 – 29.09.2017
Zwei Darstellerinnen in Schneewittchen-Kostümen

The shining Disney princess waves to us from films, resort parks, and now, here, from the stage. Snow White has turned into a global synonym for the happy girl. Manila-based choreographer Eisa Jocson examines this seeming universal promise of happiness together with performance artist Russ Ligtas: They take Snow White’s place. Between honest meticulousness and shrill exaggeration, they make the overly happy princessdom skid. The production of the character, her movements and speech formula are learned by heart, conversation with the princess rehearsed: The princess appears highly artificial, strangely familiar at the same time. Yet, what conditions bring about such a princess? With her detailed study, Eisa Jocson focuses her gaze on the entertainment industry that is far from being all glitter and glory. Especially Disneyland Hong Kong hires professional Philippine dancers. But due to the colour of their skins and their origin, they keep being relegated to the fairy tales’ supporting cast, never to wear the costume of the princess with lips red as blood, hair black as ebony and skin white as snow. With this, the play on archetypes and happiness ceremonies opens, in its doubling via both performers, a new perspective on the global cycle of the workforce, image inventory and supposed ideals. Eisa Jocson, for example, constantly balances between perfect imitation, a subtle deconstruction and a sharp gaze on the entertainment industry. 

As a visual artist with a background in ballet, Eisa Jocson arrived at contemporary dance via pole dance. In her plays, she deals with the interacting facets of gender, work, migration and physicality. She regularly presents her plays at renowned theatre houses as well as on international festivals in Asia and Europe, most currently guesting at tanzhaus nrw with the premiere of “The host” in 2015.

Duration: 70 min. / in English

Accompanying Programme
Fri 29.09.

19:00 physical introduction

  discussion afterwards

 

Choreography: Eisa Jocson; Performance: Eisa Jocson, Russ Ligtas; Music: Marc Appart; Creative Presence: Arco Renz; Light: Florian Bach; Coaching: Rasa Alksnyte; Production: Tan Fu Kuen, Anne Kleiner; Assistant: Marcus P. Tesch. https://eisajocson.wordpress.com
A production by Eisa Jocson and the Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, coproduced by the Frankfurter Positionen, Münchner Kammerspiele and tanzhaus nrw. With support from Pianofabriek Brüssel and Para Site Hong Kong. The guest performance takes place in the framework of the series CEREMONY NOW!, funded by the Kunststiftung NRW.  Furthermore funded as part of the Bündnis internationaler Produktionshäuser, and by the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien.