IN SHORT⟶ A dance duo consisting of a human body and an ice block; the two presences interconnect in a constant metamorphosis, revealing the permeability and interdependence that connect human and non-human bodies.
Ola Maciejewska’s choreography is inspired by Daisy Hildyard’s book The Second Body, the starting point for a reflection on the relocating of human beings’ actions. According to this perspective, humans have two bodies: a tangible one and another one that is diffused and part of an ecosystem.
On stage, a body and an ice block; the first one, a complex organism made of muscles, bones, veins and 80% water; the other one is made of frozen tap water. Nor a duet neither a solo, The Second Body invites the spectator to witness the permeability of these two bodies in a constant metamorphosis. The performance is a manifesto on interrelationship, scales, radical exteriority of matter and boundaries, and what defines the immediacy of felt experience.
Searching for a dimension of intra-actions, Ola Maciejewska explores the thresholds of object and subject; the animated and the unanimated dissolve one into the other, in such a way that the process of choreography is transformed by the interconnection with dissolving matter, as different bodies correlate with one another.
Ola Maciejewska is a choreographer born in Poland and based in France. Her work focuses on the friction between materiality and ephemerality, movement and its condition of appearance. She has given life to a radical re-interpretation of dance history, working on the points of convergence between dance and visual arts, focusing on the serpentine dances invented by Loie Fuller. Her works have been presented at various festivals and art institutions across Europe and The United States. She has been awarded with several prizes. She was an associated artist at the National Choreographic Center of Caen Normandy and has held workshops for artists, choreographers and dance professionals. She is currently working with the support of Dance Reflections of Van Cleef & Arpels on a wider project that includes serpentine dances and will debut at the CNDC Angers in 2025.
conception, choreography and dramaturgy Ola Maciejewska
performer Leah Marojević
choreographic construction Alix Boillot
lights Rima Ben Brahim
sound, drammaturgy collaboration Gilles Amalvi
prototype and cast Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini
stage assistance Guenaël Morvan
production/amministration so we might as well dance – Caroline Redy
touring manager Capucine Goin
booking/touring support Anouk Peytavin
thanks to Daisy Hildyard, David Toppani, Charlotte Wallet, Pascal Chevé, Camille Cosson
co-production Ménagerie de verre (Paris/FR); Watermill Center (New York/USA); ICI – CCN Montpellier Occitanie (Montpellier/FR); C.A.M.P. (Presqu’île de Gâvres/FR)
con il supporto di Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
the company is supported by Ministère de la Culture – Drac Bretagne
thanks to CND
dedicated to Simone Forti
with the support of Fondazione Nuovi Mecenati – Fondazione franco-italiana di sostegno alla creazione contemporanea
the title The Second Body is taken from the book by Daisy Hildyard (Fiztcarraldo Editions)
ph. Maria Baranova Suzuki