A plot exposed, a foul deed enacted invites scandal. In the spirit of revolution or romantic musings, scandals provoke an imagining of the impossible. Utopian or mundane, how might scandal reveal what lies unwittingly close to our fantasies? And how does it expose where society places its limits? If life is a scandal waiting to be plotted, how do we position ourselves within its matrix? Immoral and lacking propriety, scandals are incidents where fantasy and pleasure take center stage. Guided by the questions of whom this pleasure is for and at what expense, Ligia Lewis’s new plot explores the stage where scandals abound.
A plot is a word referring to a story or narrative, a piece of land or property, and the act of scheming or plotting. Intricately entangled in a three-part play engaging themes of “scandal” and resistance on the island of Hispaniola, and the greater Caribbean, Lewis explores such pleasures and their cost. Weaving together a series of historical events, political laws, and mythical narratives, ranging from John Locke’s treatise on white man’s ‘natural rights’ to life, liberty, and property, to Jose Aponte’s revolutionary plot that led to the antislave rebellion in 1812, to Lewis’s great-grandmother, a guiding figure for the community who unfolded alternative forms of resistance such as the Palo dance, A Plot / A Scandal operates as a site of visibility and concealment, inviting the scandal of rebellion at the edges of representation.
The work unfolds through the following parts:
Prelude
Plot 1: John Locke
Plot 2: Rebellion
Intermezzo: John Locke cleans up his mess
Plot 3: Story of Lolon / fuck up the plot
Outro: Repair?
In Moving in November A Plot / A Scandal is performed by Vânia Doutel Vaz.
Ligia Lewis is an artist, choreographer, and director whose work spans stage performances, gallery exhibits, and film. Her creations, marked by intense physical and emotional elements, blend comedy and tragedy, challenging conventional views of the body while exploring themes of history, memory, and the unknown. Her highly defined choreographic landscapes incorporate movement, speech, and visual metaphors to create spaces that evoke both the familiar and the enigmatic.
Lewis’s works include A Plot / A Scandal (2022), Still Not Still (2021), and deader than dead (2020). In Fall 2023, she debuted her solo exhibition study now steady at CARA in NYC, featuring a new film of the same name. A retrospective of her stage works, Complaint, A Lyric, was presented at HAU Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin in 2023.
Her performances have been featured at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, including MOCA, Los Angeles; HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin; MCA Chicago; Tate Modern, London; and the Whitney Biennial. Lewis has received awards such as the German Theater Award Der FAUST (2023) for A Plot / A Scandal, the Tabori Award (2021), and a Bessie Award for minor matter (2017).
Vânia Doutel Vaz is a dancer of Angolan-Portuguese heritage, trained in Portugal and performed with prestigious companies like Nederlands Dans Theater and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Collaborating with renowned artists such as Tânia Carvalho and Trajal Harrell, Vaz has made her mark in the dance world.
Her ongoing partnership with Trajal Harrell includes notable works like O Medea and Maggie the Cat. Vaz has also directed and assisted movement for Portuguese theatre groups and created her own productions, receiving recognition as one of the 100 most influential black personalities in the Lusophone world. She’s an active member of the Black Arts’ Union (UNA), showcasing her commitment to artistic excellence and advocacy.
Venue
Stoa, Turunlinnantie 1, 00900 Helsinki
Time
07.11.2024 20.00
08.11.2024 20.00
Soup Talk 08.11. at 12
@ Goethe-Institut Finnland
Tickets
15 € / 30 €
Duration: 75 minutes
Please note: English is spoken throughout the performance. The performance contains light nudity.
Concept, choreography, artistic direction, text: Ligia Lewis
Performance: Vânia Doutel Vaz
Choreographic assistance, alternating performer: Corey Scott-Gilbert, Justin Kennedy
Research/Dramaturgy: Sarah Lewis-Cappellari
Research: Michael Tsouloukidse
Lighting design & technical direction: Joseph Wegmann
Music composition & Sound design: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow & Wynne Bennett
Voice over: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow
Sound technician: Max Eilbacher, Neda Sanai
Set design: Ligia Lewis
Costume: SADAK
Stage technician: Jachya Freeth, Şenol Şentürk, Anna Cackett
Production & administration: Sina Kießling
Production & distribution: Nicole Schuchardt
Production assistance: Julia Leonhardt
Production: Ligia Lewis
Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Ruhrtriennale, Arsenic-Centre d’art scénique contemporain (Lausanne), Tanzquartier Wien, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER (Gent), Kaserne Basel, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis MN).
With the residency support of: Callie’s, O Espaço do Tempo.
Supported by: the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ Coproduction Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
Photo: Elon Schoenholz
Visit in collaboration: Stoa
Visit supported by: Goethe-Institut Finnland and German Federal Foreign Office, NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ International Guest Performance Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, The Finland Institute in Germany, Niilo Helander’s Foundation