Hystory

Since the early feminist movements, the trajectories, transgressions, deviations, registers, and events inscribed upon women’s bodies and minds have provided painful yet vital materials in life and art.

The new work by Patricia Apergi, a choreographer of significant influence on the global dance realm, focuses on women’s struggles throughout the centuries. According to the creator, “It is a journey to places real or dreamlike, to all those identities attributed to women as well as those they accepted, to the failure or success of manipulation.” A sequel to Planites (2012), the previous production by Aerites Dance Company, Hystory unfolds through a predominantly female perspective, drawing its meaning from the interplay of concepts embedded in its title: “hystera” and “history.” In ancient Greek, “hystera” means womb, a term that also gave rise to hysteria, long archetypically associated with the female gender. More specifically, a once-pervasive belief held that the uterus could wander within the female body, causing physical and psychological complications, from dyspnea to various crises and erratic behaviours. This theory, known as “the wandering womb,” reinforced the notion that women were, by nature, prone to emotional instability and outbursts.

In Planites, a work that featured an all-male cast, the team explored the street as a site of wandering and searching for a better tomorrow, a space of integration, fusion, and encounters with the Other. Hystory—which could be seen as its female counterpart—shifts the focus to today’s women: those misled in their journey, those who refused to submit, whose paths were obstructed, who resisted being “good girls.” These women, demonised yet glorified for their defiance, become the wanderers of the contemporary condition.