Direction/Choreography/ Concept/ Costumes: Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir
Music by: Peter Rehberg
Light design: Andreas Harder
Set design: Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir /Andreas Harder
Development of concept: Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir/Angela Schubot
Performed by: Annie Kay Dahlström, Louise Dahl, Catherine Jodoin, Laura Siegmund, Angela Schubot, Suet-Wan Tsang, Marie Ursin, Rodrigo Vilarinho
Advice: Anja Röttgerkamp, Thomas Schaupp.
Production: Björn&Björn, Gabi Beier.
Blind Spotting-film version: Antoine Verbiése
Photography: David Kiers
Webpage: www.msgudjonsdottir.com
Co-producers: Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin, Wilderness Residencies project of the Nordic-Baltic contemporary dance community keðja, Co-Production by Slingan: Atalante Gothenburg, Dansstationen Malmö, MDT. Life Long Burning cultural programm of the European Union 2013-2018 and the Cullberg Ballet dance company in Stockholm.
Residency support: Wilderness Residencies project of the Nordic-Baltic contemporary dance community keðja, Tanzfabrik Berlin and Advancing Performing Arts Project (APAP) production studio berlin.
Synopsis
With an ensemble of eight dancers Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir steps into the blind spot of the exhausted common body in order to excavate its power from its alleged weakness. In arrestingly and at the same time unsettling pictures, Blind Spotting exposes the vulnerability of our fragile bodies in our achievement-oriented society. Red theater curtains which are usually associated with circus performances, opera and classical theater are here used to juxtapose portraits of anonymous but yet highly personal bodies, moving forward in an indefinable speed in time and space.
The performance is an invitation to a shared experience of the fragile self, a self that is gazing at its own gaze, staring at its own stare, perceiving its own perception, unsettled by its own borderlessness in the blue light of empathy.
The performance “Blind Spotting” belongs to the “Blind Spotting Performance Series“ which includes at this point; “Blind Spotting”, a performance with an original cast of 8 dancers which premiered at the Sophiensaile theater in Berlin spring 2014, “Blind Spotting- film version”, an artistic film by Antoine Verbièse created from the original 8 dancers performance, the duet performance “Spotted” which has a premier in autumn 2014 during Slingan tour, and the solo installation performance “In the Blind Spot” (due to premiere in 2015). All the pieces stand alone but can as well be performed as double or triple bills.
Touring dates
2014
-12,13,14,15 June “Blind Spotting” at Sophiensaile theater Berlin, Germany
-8 August “Blind Spotting – film version” at keðjaMariehamn 2014, Åland Islands, Finland
-27,28 August “Blind Spotting” at LÓKAL and Reykjavik Dance Festival Reykjavik, Iceland
-18,19 November “Spotted” at Atalante Gothenburg, Sweden
-22,23 November “Spotted” at MDT theater Stockholm, Sweden
-26,27 November “Spotted” Dansstationen Malmö, Sweden
2015
-14 March “Blind Spotting” at Bora Bora Aarhus Jutland, Denmark
-2015- “Spotted”WUK performing arts Vienna, Austria
Link to view Blind Spotting-Film version:
https://vimeo.com/104431284
password: MSGpanic
Trailer from the Blind Spotting performance at Tanz Forum Berlin:
http://tanzforumberlin.de/trailer674.php
Reviews
“The quality is not just produced by that age old playing with the gaze. There is also a slowness, seemingly born of an endless exhaustion; the infernal silence from which Peter Rehberg’s music is created and of course the quality is produced by the Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Gudjónsdóttir’s movement art, like a puppet hanging from a string”.
Arnd Wesemann, tanz, 08/2014
“Again and again we see exhausted bodies, retreating within themselves. There is hardly communication between the protagonists. Each one going their toilsome way. Everyone is exhausted. It is in this weakness of the human body where the choreographer searches for the body’s strength and she succeeds, by parading this weakness, without any one secret, in the bright light […] Blind Spotting makes a mirror out of the public and out of the actors in which they mutually look at themselves for three quarters of an hour.”
Aura Cumita, Neue Deutche presse, 16.06.2014
A very interesting performance that demands the right type of stage, as well as an unconventional attitude from it´s viewers.
Sesselja G. Magnúsdóttir, Fréttablaðið, Iceland 30.08.2014
Cast
Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir was born in Reykjavík Iceland, studied dance in the Netherlands and lives and works in Berlin. She has toured internationally with her own work since 2007. In 2014, with the performance “Step Right To It”, Margrét Sara was chosen as one of the priority companies of the cross-border dance performance network Aerowaves and for the second time for the ICEHOT! Nordic Dance platform. In 2014 she did a new version of her widely toured solo performance Soft Target (2010) as a commission by the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm, titled Targeted. She also launched the first performance of the “Blind Spotting performance Seri” titled “Blind Spotting” at the Sophiensaile theater in Berlin spring 2014. The second performance belonging to the seri titled “Spotted” has a premier at the Slingan tour in Sweden autumn 2014.
Margrét Sara has worked as a performer and collaborated with amongst others: Gisele Viènne and Dennis Cooper, Erna Ómarsdóttir and Jóhann Jóhannsson, Jared Gradinger, Constanza Macras/Dorky Park, Esther Salamon, Jan Fabre, Nir De Volff/Total Brutal, Angela Schubot.
Angela Schubot was born in Berlin where she studied dance and worked as choreographer and dancer ever since. She founded the TWO FISH company in 2000 together with Martin Clausen. In its ten years of existence they developed 16 pieces in various constellations: international casts of dancers and actors, collaborations, as well as directing, solo works, and group pieces, which have regularly been shown within Germany and abroad. In 2004 she received a grant from ImPulsTanz at Tanzquartier Wien in Vienna. She worked with the Theatercombinat Wien, Constanza Macras/Dorky Park, Rosalind Crisp, Benoît Lachambre, Pictoplasma, Andreas Müller and Rahel de Joode. In 2009 she began collaborating with Jared Gradinger. After the duet “What they are instead of” which toured nationally and internationally, came their second work, “ismaybe”, which premiered at the Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin in June 2011. She has now created and premiered 2 new works which are co-written with Jared Grading in 2013. Recently Angela Schubot has begun teaching at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen. This is Angela’s third collaboration with Guðjónsdóttir.
Rodrigo Vilarinho is a dancer and performer with a very mixed background before discovering dance: academic studies in biology, experience in social work, education, Martial Arts, physical theater and street performance.
He is originally from Lisbon, Portugal, but for the past 4 years he has been based in Stockholm, Sweden, where he finished the bachelor degree in Dance at DOCH – The University of Dance and Circus. During his studies, he worked artistically in productions of choreographers such as Margrét Sara Gudjónsdóttir, Mette Ingvartsen and Tilman O’Donell. He was also in Nudans2012, a production of the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani. In 2011 he started a public performance company, ReAct! – Actions Moving, that is still strongly active. He works now mostly as a freelancer, interested in challenging the concept and borders of dance and always interested in the audience’s experience.
Catherine Jodoin was born in Montreal/Canada where she completed her studies in dance at LADMMI in 1997. She began her professional career in Montreal, working with choreographers such as José Navas, Dominique Porte, Lucie Boissinot and Pablo Diconca. In 1999, she started a collaboration with the German choreographer Felix Ruckert that lasted for 9 years. She moved to Berlin in 2004 and developed her own solo work – Raum zu mieten (2005), Edle Stille (2008), Shoot me (2008) and the duett Tight (2010) with Laura Frigato. During the past 10 years, Catherine has been involved in various productions from Tino Sehgal, Arthur Kuggeleyn, Veronika Riz, Anne Rudelbach/Antoine Effroy, Helge Letonja, Henrik Kaalund, Friederike Plafki, Heike Hennig and most recently Margrét Sara Gudjonsdottir and Kainkollektiv. Catherine also works at the «Deutsche Oper Berlin» in several productions.
Peter Rehberg is an Author and Performer of electronic audio works and is based in Vienna, Austria. Rehberg has given live performances both solo and in collaboration with others throughout Europe, North & South America, Japan and Australia. He is one of the first batch of artists that turned to mobile computing devices for presentation of live audio performancesin mid-1990’s. Peter also took part in the 2nd Göteborg Art Biennale(Against All Evens) curated by CM von Hausswolff in2003 Peter runs his music label MEGO from Vienna. As a music maker has collaborated live and in the studio with amongst others these chorographers and music makers: Meg Stuart, Gisele Vienne/DACM, Chris Haring, Marcus Schmickler, Jim O’Rourke and Christian Fennesz (as Fenn O’Berg), Stephen O’Malley (as KTL), Z’EV, Russell Haswell, Florian Hecker, Jade, SUNNO))), Peter is also a member of MIMEO.
Suet-Wan Tsang was born in Hong Kong, when she was four years old she moved with her family to the Netherlands. She studied at the dance department of the Art Academy in Arnhem, beginning with the preparatory education and graduating in 2000. She currently resides in Rotterdam.
As a performer she has worked with Itzik Galili, Piet Rogie, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Jens van Daele, Suzy Blok, Ton Lutgerink, Muhanad Rasheed and Guillaume Marie. At the moment she’s collaborating with Guillaume Marie on his new piece EDGING. This is Suet-Wans second collaboration with Guðjónsdóttir.
Laura Siegmund was born in Hamburg and graduated in performance-studies from the University of Arts in Arnhem in the Netherlands. She then went to Berlin to work at the “Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz” to dance in the pieces “NoBody” and “17/25-4” from Sasha Waltz. Laura Siegmund, who was born in Hamburg, graduated her performance-studies at the artcollege in Arnhem in the Netherlands. She went to Berlin to work at the “Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz” to dance in the pieces “NoBody” and “17/25-4” from Sasha Waltz. Parallel to this she began to work as a freelancer for different choreographers, among others for Lina Lindheimer in the piece “Solo- Standing on the shoulders of gigants” in Hamburg, Sebastian Prantl, Vienna and for Mikel Aristegui, Berlin. Since 2001 until today she is collaborating with the direktor kostume- and stagedesigner Mirella Weingarten in several productions. The last one, “Die Verwandlung” after F. Kafka, was shown at the “Konzerthaus Berlin”.
Parallel to this she creates her own work as a dancer and choreographer within different collectives, amongst others the “Garagenoperkollektiv Berlin”.
Louise Dahl was born in Stockholm. She graduated from Fryshuset, Arts program dance in 2011 in Stockholm, and DOCH, university of dance and circus, in 2013 in Stockholm. There she worked with amongst others; tilman O’donnell, Jefta Van Dinhter, Mette Ingvartsen and Margret Sara. Outside school Louise has worked with; Håkan Mayer, Mozart Requiem. NUdans The Göteborgsopran- iLand. Cristina Caprioli, Kropptillväxt. Louise is working as freelance dancer based in Stockholm.
Annie Kay Dahlström was born in Stockholm, Sweden, 1989. Educated as a contemporary dancer and performer at Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in Salzburg, Austria 2008-2010, and at University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm, Sweden, where she graduated from the bachelor program in 2013. Through her studies she has amongst others been working with Ori Flomin, Trigger Track Collective, Jefta van Dinther, Tilman O’donnell, Mette Ingvartsen, White Horse Collective and Margrét Sara Gudjónsdottir. She is currently based in Stockholm where she is working as a freelance performer and iniating her own projects.”
Marie Ursin Erichsen was born in Porsgrunn, Norway in 1988. She graduated as a dancer from DOCH, university of dance and circus, in Stockholm in 2013. There she worked with amongst others; Jefta Van Dinhter, Mette Ingvartsen, White Horse Collective and Margret Sara Gudjonsdottir. At the moment she is living in Berlin, working as a freelance dancer and making her own projects.