Oslo debut with a signature piece and a biographical film by an iconic artist and choreographer who had a decisive impact on the concept of dance in the mid-90s.
This signature work strips dance down to its essence. A male and female body, a light bulb, and an iconic tune. Bel’s focus on movements within the body touches something more intimate: the human body as a primary dance instrument. Radical in its simplicity and now prized as a seminal work of contemporary performance, it sparked a heated debate about what constituted dance when it premiered in 1995.
“In 1995, the choreographer Jérôme Bel put his name to Jérôme Bel, a radically pared-down work bringing the author one step closer to the hallmarks of his work, and dance to its enabling factors: lighting, music and the body. Eighteen years on, the same observation rings true: “a body cannot be overlooked”. With this “given” as his starting point, Jérôme Bel sought to find out more. For want of making the body dance, he maps it out: what are its dates, what are its measurements, and what are the signifiers that orientate it? And at what stage language can bring home its literal presence? With an economy of means reduced to what language has to say, he serves up a deconstruction of theatrical representation which has lost nothing of its vital impact.” Gilles Amalvi, June 2014
+ Film: R.B. Jérôme Bel: Véronique Doisneau. 25.-26. april / 20.30 / Lille scene. Free entry for Jérôme Bel (1995) ticketholders. Read more
