Kat Válastur

Strong Born

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Strong Born by Berlin-based Greek choreographer Katerina Papageorgiou, who presents her works as Kat Válastur, converses with the myth of Iphigenia in Aulis, approached through a feminist lens. It is inspired by the origin of the Euripidean heroine’s name (she who was born strong), the Anastenaria, a northern Greek custom where participants step on burning coals, and the sacrificial dance from Vaslav Nijinsky’s Rite of Spring. A choreographic practice that follows on from her previous work The FarNear.

In Strong Born all these elements are intertwined to devise a new ritual, prevailed by the presence of a rhythm. In this ‘ritual’, within the confines of the stage, persistence and continuous interaction between three dancers reverse the demand for sacrifice. The sound that designates the choreography is produced by percussive surfaces on the dancers’ bodies. The sacrificial ritual becomes the starting point of an act of resistance. Resistance to sacrifice becomes a vital empowerment path. The dancers on stage are accompanied by the percussionist Valentina Magaletti.

 

13 July

Post-show talk with the artists

Coordinated by Gina Yotaki, Assistant Professor in the Department of Performing and Digital Arts at the University of the Peloponnese