Work  

All those things left behind, for now
5th of May 2024
 

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Dear receiver, and audience member,

I’m sipping on my favorite green tea as I’m writing this letter to invite you, as personally and intimately as possible, to this dance performance - a solo.

Did you know that, based on an already existing culture of personal autonomy, Swedish politicians in the 1970's began to sketch a new vision of society? A vision that each individual should be able to exist and live in social and economic independence from their relatives and from each other. The concept of the independent individual has since then been embedded in Swedish society, impacting the relational and affective dimensions of everyday life too. Having grown up and living in Sweden, this social project has touched me all my life. I have always struggled to assimilate its values and premises, experiencing disconnection, isolation, and loneliness.

I disagree with giving such high value to individual independence because I don’t believe in it. I believe in relationality, meaning nobody, person nor thing exists in isolation, since to exist means to be in relationships. I believe we are all connected, all bodies - human bodies, non-human bodies, living and non-living ones. I believe our connection passes through energies, through the air we breathe, through visible and invisible spiralling pathways and forces. Through rhythms, waves, vibrations, and last but not least, through touch. I see us as porous-leaking bodies floating under the same sky. And I think we need each other, maybe now more than ever.

I’m curious to engage in my own paradox; how could a research based on relationality, backspaces, and vulnerability take shape within a solo? Would it be possible to create a solo that is also a group piece?

So for this solo performance, I aim for a dance where several bodies take place in my body. As if my body could be shaped by other bodies in the moment of dancing. A solo that takes a step back, shifts its focus from forward-oriented to backward-oriented. A solo in which grief is taking place, honoring lost loved ones, as well as forgotten futures. A solo that deals with the present moment and the fact that everything is and will always be in the process of change. A solo that delves into all of this through dancing, because I believe in dancing.

And now, when my tea cup is almost empty and the leftovers cold, it’s time for us to share the space in which this dance in this moment will happen. What if we lean back, exhale, and put our hearts in our hands - would we all feel connected then?


Warmly,
Matilda

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Credits

Choreography and dance:                                  Matilda Bilberg
Music:                                                                     Sophie Vitelli
Light:                                                                      Mali Dönmez
Costumes:                                                              Matilda Bilberg with collaborators
Objects and space:                                               Matilda Bilberg with collaborators
Supervision:                                                           caterina daniela mora jara, Anna Pehrsson, Siegmar Zacharias
Studio Angel:                                                         Rebecka Berchtold
Illustration:                                                             Eliott Marmouset
Photos:                                                                    Jonas Bilberg
With the support of:                                            Stockholm University of the Arts, MDT Moderna Dansteatern Stockholm

Thanks to Jennifer Lacey, Hannah Krebs, Ekin Tunçeli, Linda Wardal, Ira Vuolle, Gergö D. Farkas, Zak Valenta, Vilma Mankonen, Marie Fahlin, Karin Hauptmann, Martin Sonderkamp, Chrysa Parkinson for being there side by side through the master program, asking the right questions and cheering along the way.
Thanks to Peter Mills, Philip Berlin, Maria Teresa Tanzarella, Emeric Rabot, Nerea Gurrutxaga, Jenna Hendry, Eleanor Bauer, Emma Rozgoni, and Anna Fitoussi for engaging with your brilliancy in body, mind, and spirit.
And a special thanks to Bobbi, Ann-Marie Svensson, Nell Carlson, Lava, Göran Svensson.

 

 

 

 

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