Events

Eye of the
Storm Dance performance
September 26, 7 p.m.
Klaipėda Culture Factory (Bangų g. 5A, Klaipėda)
 https://www.bilietai.lt/…/audros-akis–seiko-sokio…/

The performance "Eye of the Storm" explores the universal laws of chaos and order. It is a performance by French choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, director of the Chaillot National Dance Theater in France, created in collaboration with the Šeiko Dance Theater. In this work, the choreographer uses the movement of organized and anarchic groups. Ouramdane is inspired by parades, riots, demonstrations, and flocks of flying birds. This creates constantly changing images of order and chaos on stage. These images, especially the moments of transition from one state to another, draw parallels with the processes of today's societies, resonating in the context of a pandemic world, with the dancers becoming a metaphor for chaotic beings governed by universal rules. Like a whirlwind of energy, a spinning kaleidoscope, the performance draws the viewer into an almost hypnotic state – as if watching the eye of a storm forming from clouds, thunder and rain.

Rachid Ouramdane has been creating art projects since 1995. From 2010 to 2015, he worked at the Théâtre de la ville (Paris), and from 2005 to 2015 at the Bonlieu scène nationale (Annecy). He is regularly invited to collaborate with the Lyon Opera and Ballet Theatre (Superstars, 2006; All Around, 2014), and has worked with the Russian dance troupe Migrazia (residency in Siberia and the project Intradance (Borscheviks… a true story…, 2010), as well as with the Candoco Dance Company (Great Britain) on the occasion of its 20th anniversary with dancers with disabilities (Looking Back, 2011), etc. Since Rachid Ouramdane founded the L'A dance troupe, his performances have been based on his experience working with filmmakers and authors. From 2016 to 2021, Ouramdane was the director of the National Dance Centre in Grenoble, and since April 2021, he has been the director of the Chaillot National Dance Theatre. In addition to his creative projects, Ouramdane participates in international research, training, and management exchange workshops in France, Romania, the Netherlands, Brazil, and the United States.

The dance performance "Eye of the Storm" is part of the French-Lithuanian creative collaboration program "KlaipėDAnse," which has been running since 2017.

"<…> dancers on stage create lively, pulsating, shape-shifting forms that allow viewers to sink into a light dance meditation."
Goda Dapšytė, dance and theater critic. To go or not to go. Theater No. 107 (performance reviews). 370. 2021-11-30.

Choreographer: Rachid Ouramdane (FR)
Lighting designer: Justas Bø
Lighting technician: Aurelijus Davidavičius
Composer: Jean-Baptiste Julien (FR)
Dancers: Gintarė Marija Ūsė, Ema Senkuvienė, Oksana Griaznova, Inga Kuznecova, Viktorija Zobielaitė / Marija Untulytė, Niels Claes, Eivinas Dziena, Mantas Ūsas.
Artistic director: Agnija Šeiko

The production is supported by: the French Embassy in Lithuania, the French Institute in Lithuania, the Lithuanian Council for Culture, and Klaipėda City Municipality.

Premiere: 2021
Duration: 60 min.

The Lithuanian and French contemporary dance program KlaipėDAnse is implemented by the Šeiko Dance Theater, the Caen National Dance Center in France, the French Embassy, the French Institute in Lithuania, and the Klaipėda City Municipality.