I am [not] Giselle
A dance performance by Mónica García Vicente for 2 dancers, with an original musical composition by Maewen Forest.
Giselle is considered a masterpiece of classical ballet. Created in the era of early Romanticism, it is still part of the repertoire today. As in other ballets of the time, the titular female character, with whom the male protagonist, not befitting his status, falls in love, appears as a sexless, virtuous, innocent and dependent being. Admittedly, this image corresponds more to contemporary male fantasies and patriarchal ideals of femininity than to the realities of life for women and dancers in the 19th century.
I am [not] Giselle is a choreographic experiment in search of the real woman in romantic and contemporary ballet. The two dancers embody the complex and contradictory aspects of womanhood and femininity: on, off and beyond the stage. They explore their own longings and passions and those projected onto them, states of dependence and autonomy, their own bodies as voyeuristic objects of display and subjects of female desire. Choreography, musical composition, costume and scenography create an aesthetic and expressive formal language of self-exploration, not least to give Giselle a stage as a real, complex woman.
Image description: You can see two female read dancers in a dark room in skin-colored costumes. Their bodies are facing each other and their thighs touch, they lean backwards and open their arms – looking into the distance. It seems as if one body divides into two.
Artistic direction / choreography Mónica García Vicente Dancers Camilla Matteucci, Laura Garcia Aguilera CDC dancers Emma Hesse, Laura Schepers Composition Maewen Forest Voice Simi Dramaturgy Christina Rohwetter Lighting design & scenography Kristina Schmidt Costume Luzie Nehls-Neuhaus Artistic production Rat & Tat Kulturbüro Press Hanna Ehlers Social media & documentation Laura Nicole Viganó Graphic design Maïté Müller Photos Peter Hoffmann-Schoenborn Assistant Carolin Chantal Schaefer
Photo: Peter Hoffmann-Schoenborn
