The Artsts Are Present - Dag 3 route A

Double bill: Indigo en Blackstone - Roshanak Morrowatian / No Strings Attached - Collectief MAMM

Indigo en Blackstone (work in progress): Roshanak Morrowatian conducts choreographic research with the text Indigo and Blackstone by writer Abdelkader Benali. This research focuses on the relationship between dance and language. Together with dancers from ICK Next, Roshanak has worked with themes such as sisterhood, homelessness and the paradox of an infinite desire to arrive somewhere and at the same time keep moving.

On Oct. 6 and 7, this ‘prologue’ for the double-bill of ICK’s New Adventures-presentations was on view at ICK Dans Amsterdam/Space for Dance Art. The final result is presented during The Artists Are Present.

No Strings Attached Connected to the wall by a bungee cord, two dancers run as fast as they can, relentless and determined to reach their goal. They sabotage each other, challenge each other, give up and start again. Until one of the dancers, too tired to continue, discovers the impasse and slowly realizes not to work against it anymore, but to run with it. To use it to their own advantage and make themselves stronger. They discover the hidden possibilities that lie within it and a playful game begins.

The bungee cords attached to the dancers are a metaphor for how we experience life. We can all identify with the feeling that life can work against you. That feeling of an invisible force pulling you back, preventing you from reaching your goal. You push, run, crawl as hard as you can, but you never seem to make it. It is as if this higher force, this universe, does not want you to reach your goal. What if this invisible force suddenly became visible?

About Roshanak Morrowatian

In her work, Roshanak Morrowatian highlights unnoticed details, invisible people and forgotten stories. With her company Rover, she creates interdisciplinary dance performances based on social engagement. As an artist, Roshanak explores the physicality of memories, the fluidity of traditions and the diasporic identity. In 2023, she created House of Strength, in which she reworks an ancient Persian ritual into a contemporary celebration of collectivity. Roshanak is engaged in a New Makers trajectory at ICK, supported by the Dutch Performing Arts Fund and partners Korzo, VIA ZUID and Parkstad Limburg Theaters. 

About Collectief MAMM

Collectief MAMM, consisting of Maxime Abbenhues and Mees Meeuwsen, works with partnering techniques that are not based on strength, but on sharing momentum to move another body. In their performances, they explore the phenomenon of 'the twenty-something' and their concepts are rooted in how they as young adults view the world today, to give an insight into a still often misunderstood generation. In 2023-2024, they engage in a New Adventures residency with 'bungee cords' as a metaphor for today's inability to stop and stand still: no strings attached.