MARIA NILSSON WALLER
D A N C E
PRAYING POSITIONS/METAMORPHOSIS
2020 | 15 min | Solo | Small Space | Site specific | Black Box
..prayer as an animal instinct..
Change and evolution. In all of life, since the beginning of time, but also in the personal human and emotional experience of it.
We often fear change, and it can be a quite painful and difficult experience. This solo is looking at the act of prayer in the body, prayer as an animal instinct perhaps, or way of honestly expressing the passing of life and change through my body.
Each performance is unique. I started by listening to my body, following any pain. Un-doing tension accumulated over time, trying to understand, befriend and repair my own body.I am not separate.
'One of our greatest challenges in today's society is to bridge the disconnect between society and earth, mind and body. I am not separate. With this solo I am trying to understand, befriend and repair my own body. I am observing closely, so as to retrieve an authenticity and to share what a lifetime of dance focus means so far. I am undoing pain and tension accumulated over time, trying to find peace and balance between the wild and the refined. This journey is a quest, leading me to and through the psychology of humans and to a wide range of new and old spiritual and body practices. An important question for us as a species seems to be - how do we deal with pain? How do we deal with a disassociated self, our disassociation to nature and to the wild?
Praying positions/Metamorphosis is a dance for these times; my journey, knowledge, training, revelations and realisations that I have learned from this art form over the last 20 years.It is the outcome of a series of research under the working title of “metamorphosis”, taking place both indoors and outdoors over 2019/2020.'
Presentations have taken place at Tipperary Dance Festival, Konstnärsnämnden Stockholm, Dance Umbrella UK, Christchurch Cathedral and D-Light Studios, Dublin.
Choreography: Maria Nilsson Waller
Visual design: Maria Nilsson Waller
Light design: Maria Nilsson Waller
Music: The Sei
Performed by: Maria Nilsson Waller
Supported By: Konstnärsnämnden, the Irish Arts Council and D-Light Studios.
OTHER WORK
MERRY.GO.ROUND
Dancetheatre, 50 min
A series of work focusing on nature, natural intelligence, evolution, metamorphoses, gender and sexuality, community and social dreaming.
Cutting edge jazz based sounds (by members of award winning bands Klabbes Bank and Je Suis!) meets a mix of organic and computer generated visuals and forceful choreography.