Standing in Motion
Fosilie (Czech Republic)
| Oct 7 Monday | 18:00 | ARCHA+ (Small hall) | ||
| Oct 8 Tuesday | 18:00 | ARCHA+ (Small hall) |
Standing in Motion is a moving musical expansion into the world of funeral rituals and the tradition of weepers and mourners in the context of history and the present.
Despite our tendency to push death to the fringes of our lives, it is and will always be part of them. Are we capable of authentically expressing grief when a loved one passes? Can we hold a funeral ritual in a form that allows for an authentic experience of emotion and a dignified farewell to the deceased?
The profession of professional mourner appeared as early as antiquity in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period. To this day, their tradition, with some variations, persists in some countries. Whether they are weepers and mourners, certified specialists, or funeral clowns, their job is to ensure a dignified farewell to the deceased, to maintain a smooth conversation during the ceremony, to remember the deceased and sing their praises, and to evoke and intensify feelings of grief in the bereaved. The mourners do all this for free or a certain amount of money. Their primary means of expression are specific sounds: crying, wailing, or sobbing, which smoothly transitions into singing and the spoken word, all accompanied by showy, grief-inducing gestures, expressions, and movements.
What are the prerequisites to become a professional mourner? What is part of the expressive vocabulary of a weeper? How do you balance the line between humour and sadness in the performances of funeral clowns? To what extent can the speeches of professional mourners seem believable?
The main plot line focuses on the workshop/conference of professional mourners and weepers, a protected space where they can develop their skills and aptitudes for the job.
Interdisciplinarity, the interconnection of movement, words and singing, forms the basis of the creative process and is essential to the chosen theme. The artists involved in realising the ideas come from different artistic disciplines but can interweave and combine different means of expression.
Duration: 60 min.
Direction: Marta Trpišovská
Choreography: Jana Látalová, Marta Trpišovská, Lea Švejdová
Creation and interpretation: Lukáš Bouzek, Radim Klásek, Jana Látalová, Mariana Novotná, Marta Trpišovská, Lea Švejdová, Michael Vodenka, Jana Vöröšová
Music: Jana Vöröšová
Costumes: Mariana Novotná
Lighting design: Michael Vodenka
Producer: Fosilie z.s., Jana LátalováSupported by: Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic, Studio Alta, REZI.DANCE, 4 + 4 Days in Motion
