Subterranéa
24 October 2024, 8 pm
GDK Gavella – Mala Gavella, Zagreb
Solo Performance Created & Performed by Kirstie Simson
Dramaturg and Compositional Assistant: Charlie Brittain
Lighting: Simon Gane
Sound: Steve Bull
Costumes: Liubov Clapson & Kirstie Simson
Music: Another World by Antony and the Johnsons / My Way by Sid Vicious / Relaxing Birdsong Nature Sounds
Ánima Film credits:
Director/Editor/Camera: Isaac Zambra
Dancer: Kirstie Simson
Camera: Mario Morales Rubí
Music: Jorge Zambra & Aaron Gibran
Costume : Agueda León
Poem: Itzel A. Valle
Our challenge has been to ask the question: Could we make a film that embodies a sense of what Life is calling for from us humans at this time? Perhaps to quieten, to listen intently, and to reflect on how to move forward into our unknown future. How to merge ‘with’ Life, in lieu of asserting dominion over Life.
We were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to enter an underground site called Aktun Usil, a place held sacred by a civilization who lived a different understanding about the divine nature of Life.
Special thanks to ALL – friends, family, neighbours, fellow cancer patients, nurses, doctors, surgeons, integrative health practitioners, strangers, animals, nature, ancestors, the Earth, Life – who have supported me, and continue to support me throughout this ongoing journey.
Together we are strong – together we can make it!
‘Imagine if Life was listening to you. Would there be anything you would want to say to Life?’
Performance in Zagreb is part of SomaHut 2024 program of Multimedia Hut, supported by the City of Zagreb and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and realised in partnership with Gavella Drama Theatre and Academy of Dramatic Art Zagreb.
Tickets: https://gavella.mojekarte.hr/hr/subterranea-somahut/ulaznice-619586.html
This solo is the next step on Kirstie’s journey through dance and life.
Evolving from 45 years of dedicated dance practice, and wide renown as a leading light in the art of improvisation, Kirstie shares her story of dealing with a life-threatening health crisis: cancer, and its recurrence. Through her art, traversing movement and text, she conveys the underlying philosophies that have emerged through the embodied practices which have supported her to face, and engage with, life’s challenges.
‘When life is good there is a thrilling sense of freedom that calls to be fully engaged with, and joyfully expressed. When difficulties emerge, as they inevitably will, and the path forward seems perilous, the work begins in earnest and our understanding and grounding in holistic practice is put to the test. Emotionally this is not pleasing for us; yet it is where the profound satisfaction of humble learning, deepening understanding and strengthening occurs. Life inevitably will present us with challenges. Where did we get the idea that it should be easy? The good news is that as an integral part of the whole, we have everything at hand to be able to adapt, transform, uncover, and explore life-generating solutions, that are so much needed at this time.’
Subterranéa explores our resilience in the face of adversity, how we make sense of life through telling our stories, and Kirstie’s experience of the intersection between her health crisis & the planetary crisis we are collectively facing.
Kirstie Simson (UK) has been a continuous explosion in the contemporary dance scene, bringing audiences into contact with the vitality of pure creation in moment after moment of virtuoso improvisation. Called “a force of nature” by the New York Times, she is an award-winning performer and teacher who has “immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance” according to Time Out Magazine, London. Kirstie is internationally renowned today as an excellent teacher, a captivating performer, and a leading light in the field of Dance Improvisation, with a dance practice that spans over four decades. From 2008 – 2020 Kirstie held a position as a tenured professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Illinois.
In August 2020 Kirstie returned to her home base in Wales from where she continues to share her work internationally. Kirstie frames her work now, in the light of our uncertain future, as practices that can help us develop resilience in the face of challenge. She uses her own experience of facing a life-threatening health issue in 2020/2023 as a foundation for her ongoing research into the power of embodied intelligence.