Sorrow Swag

Ligia Lewis
Small Stage
Dates
20.04.2018 – 21.04.2018
Ein Darsteller kniet, in blaues Licht und Nebel gehüllt, auf der Bühne.

“Sorrow Swag“ unfurls in an overwhelming space of image and sound, from a language of mournfulness. Through performer Andrew Hardwidge’s body, choreographer Ligia Lewis creates a diorama in suppressed anger and resistance. She succeeds in this by utilising a choreographic practice that combines Russian naturalist acting technique with basic principles in Authentic Movement, growing into a stunning physicality. Along motives and texts derived from the theatre classics “Antigone” by Jean Anouilh and “Not I” by Samuel Beckett, canonical ascriptions of “race” and “gender” will be scrutinised. A society in pursuit of happiness contrasts with an anatomy in melancholy that focuses on the minority other. A hybrid body, elaborated down to the minuscule details, a body that can never be fully grasped, lies at the epicentre of the action. 

Ligia Lewis, Factory Artist at tanzhaus NRW together with Claire Cunningham and Choy Ka Fai, regularly shows her work in theatres as well as museums, most recently at London’s Tate Modern. She describes her works as affective choreographies that circle around social inscriptions into the body. “Sorrow Swag” is the first entry in the “BLUE, RED, WHITE” series, followed by “minor matter”, which guested at tanzhaus nrw in December and which won her a renowned “Bessie Award” as well as the “Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award“. The concluding third part will follow in winter 2018. 

“Deeply nightmarish and spectacular in its simplicity, ‘Sorrow Swag’ drags its audience into deepest sensual abyss, populated by remains of the Western canon.” Sara Lyons, “Contemporary Performance”, January 11th, 2016, on the occasion of the performance at the “American Realness” festival

Duration: 60 min.

Accompanying Programme
Fri 20.04. + Sat 21.04. discussion afterwards
Sat 21.04. 19:00 physical introduction
   

Concept, Choreography: Ligia Lewis; Performance: Andrew Hardwidge, originally developed for Brian Getnick; Arrangement: George Lewis Jr. (Twin Shadows); Production, Distribution: HAU Hebbel am Ufer / Nicole Schuchardt. www.ligialewis.com
A production by Ligia Lewis, funded by the Regierende Bürgermeister von Berlin, Senatskanzlei / Kulturelle Angelegenheiten. Supported by Human Resources Los Angeles, ada Studio Berlin and Pieter Space Los Angeles.