- Dance
- SPRING coproduction
- World premiere
(DON’T) LOOK ME IN THE EYES
Accessibility
Disclaimer
This performance features stroboscopic lighting or other flashing lights, smoke effects, and intense bass via a subwoofer.
A creation conceived as the second chapter of a trilogy, initiated with the graduation production of the artist at DAS Theatre in 2022. The mythological figure of Medusa, an important figure in the iconography of Western culture is filtered and examined through critical thinking, pop culture, and sci-fi aesthetics, in search of its resonance in today’s world.
Drink my blood in the stream of digital
I dare you
to take me in
under the font of the ree(a)l.
Wet your engine in my wicked veins
I want you
to take me inside
to take me there
I will give you my eye, without putting the brake.
Meet me there, in the code of barks
that make our face viral
that make our face spiral
but only under the dark hack.
Cause the world is leaking, for sure is leaking
is stoned, nonstop beeping.
Cause the world is leaking, I bet is leaking
is stoned, nonstop chirping.
(DON’T) LOOK ME IN THE EYES is a dance performance inspired by the story of the Greek myth of Medusa and the Gorgon sisters. It is a piece for three human performers, two robots, and an avatar that tackles the notion of the monstrous and the relationships between bodies and technology. Its aim is to reflect on the representations of women and queer characters in the foundational narratives of Western culture. (DON’T) LOOK ME IN THE EYES attempts to turn the problems that the myth triggers into a sci-fi futuristic dream, tracing a line between past and future to understand and confront some of the problems from the present we inhabit.
Awards
- Erik Impuls 2023
- YAA Prize 2023, category: dance
- 3 Package Deal 2022-2023, category: dance, from Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
Interview
VandenEnde foundation interviewed artist Ainhoa Hernández Escudero about this performance. Read the Dutch interview here.
“It is precisely in theater that it is possible to experience other perspectives on the world. There is a lot of symbolism and references in the performance. Hopefully everyone will leave the theater with a different feeling and their own interpretation of the play.”
Review
Marjan Terpstra wrote on Theaterkrant about (DON’T) LOOK ME IN THE EYES: “This is life as many women live it, even today. In fear, confined, while deep inside burns the desire to become that other version of themselves. Ainhoa Hernández Escudero, with her intense and repetitive choreography, makes us feel how many women never reach the next level. Bold, a bit weird, but ultimately very powerful.” Read the full review here.
Reading group
Feel free to join Ainhoa Hernández Escudero’s Reading Group on May 25th from 19:30 to 22:00 in Savannah Bay.
This performance is made possible by:
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Ainhoa Hernández Escudero
Credits
CONCEPT AND DIRECTION – Ainhoa Hernández Escudero
PERFORMERS – Neda Ruzheva, Nina Pushkareva and Ainhoa Hernandez Escudero
CHOREOGRAPHY – Ainhoa Hernandez Escudero with Laura Ramirez Ashbaugh, Neda Ruzheva, and Nina Pushkareva
DRAMATURGY– Marta Keil
TEXT with Ira Brand
SOUND DESIGN– Fernanda Libman
VISUALS – Urticae
COSTUME – Lucian Squid
ROBOT PROGRAMMING – Echo Wang and Hisham Bendriss
LIGHT DESIGN – Irene Cantero
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT– Astrid Klein Haneveld
ACCOMPANIEMENT – Carolina Bianchi
COPRODUCED WITH SPRING Festival, ICK, and Antic Teatre
CO-PRODUCTION IN RESIDENCY – O Espaço do Tempo
SUPPORTED BY AFK, NORMA, Stimulerings Fonds Digital Culture, the YAA prize, Erik Impuls, New Adventures Residency, Vande Ende Foundation, ID Lab.
SPECIAL THANKS – Isabel Escudero, Isabel Hernández, Suzy Blok, Gina Broeders, Isadora Tomasi, Ummi Renteria Wouters, Fleur De Schepper, Come Together #8, ID Lab, Veronica Visocka, Irene Brok, Lisa Reinheimer, Soyun Jang, House of Løstbois.
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