A String Section
As performer in work by Reckless Sleepers (UK/BE) at Metropolis- festival 2017. The work was performed at six different locations in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Reckless Sleepers have created a lavish, mesmerizing and humorous ritual. A quirky, beautiful and self-destructive choreography with character and symbolism all depending on where it is presented. Absurdly majestic outside the Court House, melancholic in the sunset on Refshaleøen, grandly poetic on Ofelia Plads…
15 women, all in little black dresses, sitting on 15 chairs. Elegant like the string section in a symphony orchestra, but equipped with saws instead of violin and bow.
Their mission is rather simple: to saw off the legs underneath them without falling over. Sitting on the chair, lying stretched out, wrapped around the backrest, head down, legs split. The bodies are twisted in order to find the optimal working position.
The task is tough, the chair legs put up a struggle, but the women are so dedicated and so ready for battle. The rhythmic sound of the saw blade into wood foreshadows destruction. Sweat is mixed with sawdust, the fingers become full of wood splinters and wounds, the muscles burn, and they desperately fight to keep up the facade and balance when the chair legs break and the chairs tilt over.
We shiver when the saw slips, and we laugh when they lose their balance and fall to the ground with a bang. We are all mesmerised as we follow every single movement, each cut with the saw, while we wait in excitement for the ultimate and inevitable self-destruction.
By: Leen Dewilde
With: Annika Kompart, Antoinette Helbing, Nanna Jensen, Carina Raffel, Marie Lykkemark Simonsen, Oriane Paras, Tilda le Grand, Sara Grotenfelt, Lisbeth Sonne Andersen, Tove Vestmø, Karin Bergman, Leen Dewilde, Sofie Vandestede, Lisa Osborne Kendall, Rachel Sophie Piekarczyk, Caroline D’Haese
Artistic director: Mole Wetherell
Video: A String Section
Reckless Sleepers have created a lavish, mesmerizing and humorous ritual. A quirky, beautiful and self-destructive choreography with character and symbolism all depending on where it is presented. Absurdly majestic outside the Court House, melancholic in the sunset on Refshaleøen, grandly poetic on Ofelia Plads…
15 women, all in little black dresses, sitting on 15 chairs. Elegant like the string section in a symphony orchestra, but equipped with saws instead of violin and bow.
Their mission is rather simple: to saw off the legs underneath them without falling over. Sitting on the chair, lying stretched out, wrapped around the backrest, head down, legs split. The bodies are twisted in order to find the optimal working position.
The task is tough, the chair legs put up a struggle, but the women are so dedicated and so ready for battle. The rhythmic sound of the saw blade into wood foreshadows destruction. Sweat is mixed with sawdust, the fingers become full of wood splinters and wounds, the muscles burn, and they desperately fight to keep up the facade and balance when the chair legs break and the chairs tilt over.
We shiver when the saw slips, and we laugh when they lose their balance and fall to the ground with a bang. We are all mesmerised as we follow every single movement, each cut with the saw, while we wait in excitement for the ultimate and inevitable self-destruction.
By: Leen Dewilde
With: Annika Kompart, Antoinette Helbing, Nanna Jensen, Carina Raffel, Marie Lykkemark Simonsen, Oriane Paras, Tilda le Grand, Sara Grotenfelt, Lisbeth Sonne Andersen, Tove Vestmø, Karin Bergman, Leen Dewilde, Sofie Vandestede, Lisa Osborne Kendall, Rachel Sophie Piekarczyk, Caroline D’Haese
Artistic director: Mole Wetherell
Video: A String Section
Photo: Maja Nydal Eriksen