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BLOT – Body Line of Thought

Showing on Jan 22-23

Playing at Left of Main

A wide shot of a person contorting their body. They are bending down to reach for the floor, with their torso tilted to the right.

Tangaj Collective/Action at a Distance (Romania/Canada)

We are strong and fragile, interconnected systems of sweat, muscle and microbiome. In BLOT, our bodies are redefined through an exploration of our coexistence with microbiological beings. 

This choreographed performance is inspired by our own anatomy, using the language of the body to create states of repetition, fluidity, compassion, and empathy. Stripped of the social meanings determined by language, movement becomes a transitory presence and an intersubjective experience that opens the way to new understandings. Images of bacteria cultivated from the dancer’s bodies and dunes of salt reveal the invisible systems that connect us to our biome. 

BLOT asks us to consider how to live within a world of fractured identities, distance from nature and the ongoing climate crisis. The result is a reminder of our interconnectedness despite our differences in both identity and microbiology.

“BLOT, acronym of Body Line Of Thought, is undoubtedly the most emblematic performance of the 2023 edition of Antistatic. The almost hypnotic dance of the performers, whose movements are at times fragmented, at times very fluid, makes it easy to see in detail how their muscles contract and release, how their breathing expands their diaphragms, or how the impulses flow through their limbs and spines. In this case nudity is simply taken as a scientific necessity, as the measurement tools the dancers wear highlight. I see BLOT as an opportunity to be guided by two performative bodies through a personal line of thoughts (as the title suggests), triggered by explanations about biology, which are therefore connected with ourselves.”

Marta Bugio, New Dramaturgies Magazine

Artists Vanessa Goodman and Simona Deaconescu talked to PuSh Director of Programming, Gabrielle Martin, about BLOT on the PuSh Play podcast. Listen to the episode here.

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Artist Bio

Tangaj Collective/Action at a Distance (Romania/Canada)

Vanessa Goodman respectfully acknowledges that she lives, works and creates on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University and is the artistic director of Action at a Distance Dance Society. Vanessa is attracted to art that has a weight and meaning beyond the purely aesthetic and uses her choreography as an opportunity to explore the human condition. Her choreographic practice is driven by weaving generative movement and audio into performative environments.

Her work creates a sense of intimacy between our surroundings and the body. She has received several awards and honours, including The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013); The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18); The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019); The Schultz Endowment from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019); and the “Space to Fail” program (2019/20) in New Zealand, Australia and Vancouver. Her work has toured Canada, The United States, Europe and South America. Recent collaborations include Graveyards and Gardens with Caroline Shaw and BLOT with Simona Deaconsecu. 

Working across genres and formats, Simona Deaconescu examines social constructs, at the border of fiction and objective reality, sometimes with irony and dark humor. Her work explores future scenarios of the body, creating spaces in which nature, history, and technology meet, and the notion of choreography extends beyond the human body.

Simona Deaconescu holds a BA and a MA in Choreography from The National University of Theatre and Film Bucharest and a BA in Film Directing from Media University Romania. In 2014, she founded Tangaj Collective, an organization that works with transdisciplinary artists and researchers. In 2015, she became the co-founder and artistic director of the Bucharest International Dance Film Festival.

In 2016, she received the CNDB – National Centre for Dance Award for her contribution brought to Romanian contemporary dance. Over the years, she developed part of her projects in collaboration with CNDB, and in 2022 she became an Associated Artist of the center. Developing artworks greatly influenced by science, she was supported by European Projects based on research and interdisciplinarity, such as Moving Digits and Biofriction. In 2018 and 2022, she was nominated as an Aerowaves Artist with her works Counterbody and Choreomaniacs. 

Tangaj Dance: Facebook

Action at a Distance: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Vimeo

Venue

Left of Main

211 Keefer St, Vancouver, BC V6A 2T

Showtimes

  • January 22: 7:30
  • January 23: 7:30

Runtime: 45 min, no intermission

Post-show talkback: Jan 22

Content Advisory

Nudity

Tickets

Single tickets: $39
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Access

There is a flight of stairs to get into venue.

View the visual story for this show (Google Slides)

Credits

Produced by Action at a Distance, Tangaj Collective, The National Center for Dance Bucharest Created by Simona Deaconescu and Vanessa Goodman Dancers Simona Dabija, Mariza Luiza Dimulescu Artistic consultants Olivia Niţiş, Marta de Menezes Music Monocube Visual design Ciprian Ciuclea Light design James Proudfoot Production Andreea Andrei 

Co-financed by The Romanian Cultural Institute, CANTEMIR Programme, AFCN – The Administration of the National Cultural Fund, Canada Council for the Arts, with support from  Cultivamos Cultura, BIOFRICTION, Left of Main, Plastic Orchid Factory

Partners

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