PERFORMANCE

JONAH BOKAER X HARRISON ATELIER
The Anchises Project Website

A co–creation between internationally acclaimed choreographer, Jonah Bokaer, and interdisciplinary design firm, Harrison Atelier, ANCHISES gives visual and physical expression to the themes of aging, use and reuse of materials, and the role of space in determining the body’s range and potential. Featuring an inter-generational cast of five, ANCHISES stages new choreography by Bokaer in original stage designs by Harrison Atelier. ANCHISES will premiere at the newly opened Pavilion Dance in Bournemouth, UK on October 6th, and will receive its US premiere at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City on November 17th.

ANCHISES unfolds in nine episodes, in which sequences of duets and trios abstract and explore inter-generational tensions and loyalties. The well–known image of Aeneas bearing his father Anchises from Troy remains one of the most poignant representations of filial piety. ANCHISES explores this image in relation to the problem posed by the aging body in the artform of dance, in which youth is presumed, and which is therefore apt to showcase this tension.

Inspired by Anchises’ pivotal act of salvaging memories from the burning city, the set creates an environment that scripts the dance. Disassembled parts of the old city become building blocks for the new, while assembly and disassembly of the set becomes a performance itself. What remains and what is discarded?

The metaphor of a ruined city maps well onto the condition of today’s institutionalized elderly. Likewise, the conceit of city–building maps onto today’s condition of “success” and its disclaimed burdens, be they aging parents or society at large.

The cast of ANCHISES includes internationally acclaimed Valda Setterfield, and Merce Cunningham veteran Meg Harper, along with New York emerging talents James McGinn and Catherine Miller. ANCHISES also features original lighting design by Aaron Copp, a long–term collaborator of Bokaer and recipient of a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award. Loren Dempster, the son of new music composer Stuart Dempster, has composed the original musical score.

Producers
Dance Southwest: Bournemouth, UK
Abrons Arts Center, New York
Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
SCAN, Bournemouth University, UK

Choreography Jonah Bokaer
Visual Design Harrison Atelier: Ariane Lourie Harrison, Seth Harrison
Performers Jonah Bokaer, Meg Harper, Valda Setterfield, James McGinn, Catherine Miller
Lighting Aaron Copp
Music Loren Dempster
Commissioner Pavilion Dance, Eckhard Thiemann

Booking Inquiries Julie George, Julie-George@wanadoo.fr, +33.1.43.38.04.33