Idiots
© Chrisander Brun

PROJECT

Idiots

The first week of September 2014 wpZimmer invites Björn Säfsten and his team to work in residency in the studio on his next creation IDIOTS. The performance will première in October in MDT in Stockholm.

In his last piece “Introduction”, Björn worked closely with two performers with whom he developed his work in previous creations. In his work “IDIOTS”, he continues on the same path, this time with Allison Ahl and Sebastian Lingserius.

Björn about the piece:
IDIOTS will show that the body is not only the bearer of multitudes of representations but also an instrument for rewriting them. By tiring out representations and dancing them to breaking point, the construction of representation itself is criticized, showing the insufficiency and fragility of the way it operates. The work thus processes the perversions of dance, placing the dancer as a writing subject unconscious of his own responsibility. It is about returning to the choreography as an investigative practice of activities and so approaching activity as presence, in the way it relates to the world and in its self-awareness. In this way we are seeking to develop our practice of choreography, our understanding of it, the audience’s view of it and create conversations that drive ontological criticism forwards. We might perhaps appear to be/be portrayed as IDIOTS but it is not the representation of the idiot that counts but the limits of choreography and challenging these.

Try-out: Friday 5th of September at 16h30 in wpZimmer

Björn Säfsten

In the work and practice of choreographer Björn Säfsten the body and the mind and its connected actions are scrutinized, dissected and exposed. The focus is on creating ‘another body’, another notion of human physicality, bringing images to life that visually problematize our notion of the human nature. The physical practice expose images that occur from a certain physical action, in a chance method. The work thus takes visual turns and bends, often moulding itself whilst being performed, establishing itself a-new each time for each audience encounter.

Since 2015 Björn Säfsten activates various formats to present the work of other artists within his structure Säfsten Production. Säfsten Production is a platform for choreographic creation and experimentation. An intertwinement of theory and practice, it manifests itself through artists joining forces in speculation and critical formation within the fields of choreography. It aims to be a platform for experimentation, risk-taking and continuous research, dealing with questions regarding politics, language and identity.

Credits

Choreograaf: Björn SäfstenSet and lighting design: Chrisander BrunDancers: Allison Ahl, Sebastian LingseriusCo-production: Säfsten Produktion and MDTWith support of : wpZimmer and AADK 2014With support of : the Swedish Arts Council, the City of Stockholm and the Swedish Research Council