We seek out those erotic images that bring energy, joy and excitement on various levels in interpersonal encounters. Perhaps it is a matter of being aware of the moment – of what we see and hear, the fragile lines, attraction, a need for closeness. To lose balance for a while, to be seen, to get lost for a second and have a sudden sensation of openness. Just like seeing art or a musician with his instrument, the artist at his easel, a dancer in motion.
After seeing a staging of Marguerite Duras’s text La Maladie de Mort in a hotel room in Oslo in 2010 I wanted two Norwegian contemporary authors to be inspired by Duras to write texts with sensuality as an underlying theme. As time went on the project took form and a collaboration was established involving a choreographer, a musician and a composer to see how the theme could be further developed.
Discovering the stark industrial facility at Bergen Kjøtt opened the opportunity to examine a new stage where closeness is part of meeting an audience. EROS is a wish to create a dialogue between di erent expressions and di erent artists. The perfor- mance is a weave of music, movement and words, with a limited audience becoming part of a dramaturgic series of events carried forward by the music.
Can we as artists capture eroticism from the commercial sphere and reveal nuances that prove that it is an important human creative driving force?
English version: Roger Martin
Credits
Artistic director and performance concept: Juni Dahr
Håkon Austbø, musical dramaturgy and piano
Cecilie Lindeman Steen choreography
Henrik Hellstenius, composition, new music composed for this performance. With other music/composers as well.
Hanne Ørstavik and Geir Gulliksen wrote texts especially for this performance.
Artists: Håkon Austbø, Juni Dahr, Anja Sunniva Valseth, Lars Jacob Holm, Hanne Ørstavik. The movement material for the choreography has been developed in cooperation with the artists.
Marianne Thallaug Wedset light design
Silje Fjellberg costume design
Marianne Roland producer
Supported by: Norwegian Arts Council, Fond for Utøvende kunstnere, Fond for lyd og bilde, Fritt Ord, Dramatikkens hus, Steinway Norge.
