Ola Maciejewska draws inspiration from Daisy Hildyard’s book The Second Body, diving into the urgent dialogue on human impact on the climate and ecology. Hildyard’s narrative proposes that humans possess two bodies: the tangible flesh and bone, and an abstract form intertwined with the environment.
Intrigued by this ambivalence, Maciejewska explores the dissolving of the boundaries between object and subject, animate and inanimate, to the point where we can observe the choreographic process of matter and bodies becoming interrelated and co-dependent. On stage, a human body and a block of ice—one, a complex organism made of muscles, bones and veins, 80% of which is liquid; the other, made of frozen tap water. Neither a duet nor a solo, The Second Body invites to witness the permeability of these two bodies of water in constant transformation. A manifesto on interdependence, scale, and radical exteriority, celebrating the immediacy and richness of sensory experience.
Ola Maciejewska, born in Poland and based in France, is a dancer, artist, and choreographer. Her work explores the intersections between materiality and ephemerality, and movement and its conditions of appearance, offering critical insights into the history of dance.
Maciejewska’s series on serpentine dances, inspired by Loie Fuller, merges dance and visual art, reflecting on themes of metamorphosis, synesthesia, and hybrid embodiment. Her works have been presented at venues such as the Centre Pompidou Paris, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, London Royal Opera House, Musée d’Orsay, and various international festivals.
Maciejewska’s notable projects include Dance Concert and Bombyx Mori, which was presented at Moving in November in 2017. She has taught at institutions like HEAD Geneva and the Centre National de la Danse Pantin.
In 2022, she received a grant from the Watermill Center and was an associate artist for the Mondes Nouveaux project by the French Ministry of Culture. Her piece FIGURY (przestrzenne) won the Gallery Prize from the Nadežda Petrović gallery. In 2023, she premiered The Second Body and is currently working on a new project set to debut in 2025 at CNDC Angers.
Venue
Kiasma Theatre, Mannerheiminaukio 2, 00100 Helsinki
Time
09.11.2024 17.00
10.11.2024 17.00
Soup Talk 10.11. at 12
Tickets
15 € / 30 €
Duration: 1h
Please note: The performer is topless on stage.
Conception, choreography, direction: Ola Maciejewska
Performed by / Interprétation: Leah Marojević
Dance construction (form in ice): Alix Boillot
Prototype and mold: Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini
Sound, dramaturgy in collaboration: Gilles Amalvi
Light: Rima Ben Brahim
Sound technician: Fanny Lacour
Production / Administration: so we might as well dance – Caroline Redy
Production assistant: Capucine Goin
Diffusion development & touring management: Anouk Peytavin
Thanks to: Daisy Hildyard, David Toppani, Charlotte Wallet, Pascal Chevé, Camille Cosson and Guenaël Morvan. Thanks to CND for lending studio.
Coproduction: Ménagerie de Verre, Paris, Watermill Center, New York, ICI – CCN Montpellier Occitanie, Montpellier, C.A.M.P. Presqu’île de Gâvres
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
The company is supported by Ministère de la Culture – Drac Bretagne
This work is dedicated to Simone Forti.
Photo: Maria Baranova-Suzuki
Visit in collaboration: Kiasma Theatre
Visit supported by: Embassy of Poland, Spectacle Vivant en Bretagne, Institut Français Finlande