Landmarks delves into movement dynamics created by land demarcations, territory struggles and military operations across borders. Through an appropriation of movement and gestuality from various Army Field Manuals, the piece unfolds as a fast-paced moving landscape inspired by images of political resistance actions, collective presence in public space, tools for control and discipline of the body, and ways of subverting strict systems through movement.
In the piece, five dancers move through synchronized drills, marching steps and military cadences. These sequences are interwoven with performative games from The Theater of the Oppressed, a performance technique developed by Brazilian artist-activist Augusto Boal, which emerged during the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 70s.
In the Theater of the Oppressed, conflicts are performed as a form of political resistance and social change. Employing tools such as reenactment of real-life events, compositions with archival images and embodiment of histories of oppression, these techniques explore how movement can be a fundamental tool to resist enforced forms of physical circulation and dominance over contested or disputed territories.
Landmarks looks into today’s warfare infrastructures as rigid choreographic systems that enforce and dictate bodies. Looking at border landscapes as a political stage for the performance of control, the project explores how collective bodies can move against inflexible and oppressive systems, imagining new possible choreographies of freedom.
Co-produced by Festspillene i Nord-Norge, 2024
Direction, Choreography and Sculptures - Bianca Hisse
Research and Drawings - Sarah Key
Textile and Graffiti - Terje Grimen
Sound Composition - Tom Monteiro
Choreography assistance - Georgiana Dobre
Co-creating performers - Sarjo Sankareh, Ian Yves Ancheta, Putli Hellesen, Przemek Kaminski, Georgiana Dobre
Costumes - Marine Sigaut
Light design - Lui L'abbate
Producer - Martha Møkkelgjerd
Mentor - Eirún Sigurðardóttir
Language research - Carlos Ribeiro
Forum Box, Helsinki
Forum Box, Helsinki