A BODY AND OTHER OBJECTS is a performance which explores the body as “matter”, as “object”, as “container”. It aims to inquire into and explore the qualities and capacities of this container, questioning the existence of hermetic borders. Through the objectification of a human body, the piece aims to create a poetic yet explorative space which embraces the diversity and ambiguity of the self. It attempts to blur the boundary between body and object, and also between the genres of circus and dance. As a starting point, the work explores hair-hanging as a condition which objectifies the body. The suspended body is placed in relation to another human body as well as other non-human objects, exploring themes such as agency, manipulation, gender relations (through a sometime provocative or nuanced feminist perspective) and exploration of freedom in limits. Inspired by the framework of Object Oriented Ontology and New Materialism, the piece embraces the idea of “performative rigging”: acknowledging the presence and essentiality of the rigging apparatus and exploring the ways in which the interaction with these functional objects transforms the space, the atmosphere and the human gesture. How does one body hold? How can I objectify my body and how can an object become a subject? How can the human body be morphed by the dialogue with an object? What does this metamorphosis speak of?
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ANA JORDÃO is a multidisciplinary performer, working and researching in the fields of contemporary circus, dance, improvisation and artistic research. Her work is based on a rich hybridity of circus and dance skills as well as an endless curiosity and openness to experimentation. After completing a Bachelors in Media and Cultural Studies in Edinburgh in 2006 and a course in Circus Arts in Berlin in 2011, she continued to work as flyer of a hand-to-hand duo in various creation projects throughout Europe. In 2017 Ana creates her first solo piece I AM (K)NOT, with which she positions herself for the first time as author os full-length stage work. In 2018, she starts her second creation CAN A SHADOW HAVE A PERSON? (shortlisted by Circus Next) and premieres in 2021. In 2022 she starts her new work A BODY AND OTHER OBJECTS where she examines the art of hair-hanging through the lens of paralogical thinking. All her works have toured throughout Europe, and occasionally shift formats into video art, performance lectures, site-specific formats and performative installations. In the last years, Ana has also collaborated with other makers such as Julian Vogel, Cie Marta & Kim, Marie-Andree Robitaille, Stefan Sing, Stefan Hort and Aragorn Boulanger.
VINCENT KOLLAR currently works as a performer, as part of collective projects and is also an avid teacher and rigger. He is an expert in the art of Meteor manipulation, a traditional Chinese circus discipline. His performative work lies in the intersection of circus and dance. In 2008 Vincent starts his formal education in the field of the arts in Berlin. While studying at Die Etage he specialised in dance acrobatics and object manipulation. He dove deep into the study of Meteor manipulation, which led him to develop his own ground-breaking contemporary approach to the traditional discipline. He continued his higher education in the Netherlands, and in 2015 graduates from CODARTS University of the Arts with a Bachelor in Circus Arts. Besides his own solo work, he is one of the founding members of Collective Penguin Productions and Company Pile en Face, with whole he has developed shows and toured throughout Europe. Vincent has recently been working with Scapino Ballett Rotterdam (cast of The Great Bean) and is currently working with Cie Marta & Kim (in their piece FASE).