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Julidans: #THISISBEAUTY

MonkeyMind Company (BE) / Lisi Estaras
Tue 4 Jul ’23 and Wed 5 Jul ’23
The absurdity of human communication in 50 questions.
Tue 4 Jul ’23
and
Wed 5 Jul ’23

What do an orca and a human have in common? Along with humans, the orca is the only animal that goes through menopause. Lisi Estaras addresses this question and forty-nine other questions (one for each of her fifty years of life) in 'stand-up dance' in which she takes aim at the absurdity of our communication. 

Argentine dancer and choreographer Lisi Estaras has been dancing with Alain Platel's renowned Flemish dance company les ballets C de la B for more than twenty years. She developed her own methodology called 'monkeymind', which approaches dance as an impulsive flow of thoughts around themes like confusion, humour and ambiguity. 

This is no different in #THISISBEAUTY, a solo performance to mark her fiftieth birthday. With her trademark disarming smile, Estaras explores to the point of absurdity how words relate to meanings, meanwhile fooling around with the dance world, and not least with herself as a 50-year-old dancer struggling with age, sexuality and gender.

Inspired by the philosophical work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and by 50-year-old women she specially interviewed for this solo, Estaras creates a powerful piece of physical fiction for #THISISBEAUTY. The solo is a philosophical thought experiment, a parody of the dance world and a vulnerable self-portrait all rolled into one. Accompanied by a soundscape of orca sounds and church hymns, Estaras makes you feel like you are watching a fish in an aquarium: 'ferocious and untameable', as one reviewer aptly described.

Press

'In just under 50 minutes, she shows in a humorous way what words can do. 'A searingly topical performance in times of social uncertainty.' Pazz

  • Engels gesproken
  • Podiumpas niet geldig bij voorstellingen van Julidans

Concept, choreography and dance​ Lisi Estaras Dramaturgy Sara Vanderieck Soundscape Tom Daniels Light design Helmut Van den Meersschaut Costume design Marie Szersnovicz Costume atelier Odile Dubucq Philosophical advice Carla Carmona Artistic advice Kristien De Proost Production management & communication Hilde Debuck MonkeyMind Company Management Nicole Petit Production MonkeyMind Company Coproduction Festival Bits of Dance Brugge (B), MA Scène Nationale Pays de Montbéliard (F) Residencies  KAAP Brugge, MA Scène Nationale Pays de Montbéliard, Tanzhaus Zürich, BAMP Bruxelles With the support of CAMPO, les ballets C de la B and KC nona (studio) Thanks to Rose, Liora, Mirko and Ludwig

This project is created with a project grant from the Flemish Government – Culture