Diana Niepce (PT)
The other side of dance
Revolution of the non-normative body
Who says that bodies with disabilities are powerless? Portuguese acrobat, dancer and choreographer Diana Niepce delves into dance history and draws inspiration from artists who fall outside prevailing norms. How do non-normative bodies find their place in dance?
Julidans
Main programme
Run time 35 minutes
Location Theater Bellevue
After talk with Diana Niepce 11 July
In previous work, dancer, choreographer and acrobat Diana Niepce depicted the process surrounding her self-recovery after a fall from the trapeze in which she suffered a spinal cord injury. As a performer, she has since then been searching for new ways of expression, a language that introduces the disabled body into the 'dance establishment'. In the process, the spectator is challenged to cast aside norms related to the aesthetics of the body.
In her solo The Other Side Of Dance, Niepce analyses the history of dance and the hierarchical principles that spur the body on to movement. She does not spare her own body anywhere – quite the opposite, she puts it to a severe test. With minimal staging and sometimes biting sarcasm, Niepce shows the non-normative body not as a victim but as a revolutionary entity.-|-Diana Niepce, considered one of the most appealing new faces of Portuguese dance, describes her dance piece as "a survey of the invisible in dance history". In a fascinating journey, she turns the laws of physics around movement upside down, drawing inspiration from artists who have elevated their non-normativity to artistic identity – for example, Bill Shannon, Claire Cunningham, David Toole and Neil Marcus.
In the 35-minute solo, Niepce is joined on stage by three 'performer assistants', who accompany her on this demanding, brutal journey through an alternative dance history archive.
CREDITS
artistic direction and performer Diana Niepce
creation & movement support, performer assistance Ana Sofia Leite
investigation support Carlos Oliveira
sound design Gonçalo Alegria
light design Carlos Ramos
light operation Pedro Sousa
costume design Silvana Ivaldi
cenography Bruno Capucho - Ohcupa
rigging Telma Pinto e Ricardo Paz
head of production and managing Filipe Metelo e Patrícia Soares -|-
house of production Produção d’Fusão
artistic residence PACT Zollverein (DE), Biblioteca de Marvila - CML, O Espaço do Tempo, Estúdios Victor Córdon, Oliva Creative Factory - CMSJM, Teatro da Cerca de São Bernardo/CITEMOR
coproduction Festival CITEMOR
support Direção Geral das Artes | Ministério da Cultura, Fundação GDA