Julidans - Manual Focus - Mette Ingvartsen

In a retrospective of her work, choreographer Mette Ingvartsen (DK) returns to the very beginning of her career with 'Manual Focus'. In an alienating and radical presentation that is also downright infectious, she explores not only the body itself but especially the ways in which we look at it.

Julidans - Manual Focus - Mette Ingvartsen

Location

Frascati

Nes 63

1012 KD Amsterdam

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Fascination

Mette Ingvartsen made her debut in 2003 with her choreography Manual Focus, which would prove groundbreaking for her later work. In this dance piece, she emphasizes physical actions and movements, regardless of the psychological motivations that may lie behind them. This approach also characterizes the works that followed in the years that followed, in which Ingvartsen continues her uncomplicated explorations of the body and our perception with infectious enthusiasm.

Manual Focus is an almost sculptural work in which Ingvartsen's fascination with identity and binary opposites shines through. An excellent example of her 'mission' in dance: in-depth research into the relationship between body, space and audience, to address social and political issues.

Everything moves

In Manual Focus, Ingvartsen completely reverses your view, turns arms and legs upside down, and alternates the front and back of the body. Naked women with masks of old men on the backs of their heads turn into monstrous twelve-legged organisms. Animal bodies change from disorganized beings to people without heads or other unnamed categories. An alienating feeling of disidentification arises in a continuous flow of transformation.

Mette Ingvartsen: 'The masks were a starting point for how to mix masculine and feminine and how to blur the boundaries between different categories. Not just male and female, but also artificial and real, naked and masked or even just a general understanding of supposedly fixed opposites. I wanted to try to blend opposites in a way that would make them inseparable.'

About the creator

The Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen (1980) has performed all over the world and her work has been presented at renowned stages and festivals. She has received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to contemporary dance and is considered one of the most influential choreographers of her generation. In honour of her 20th anniversary, Julidans is presenting a retrospective of her most important works.

Please note: the end time is an indication.