Events

Flocking
Dance performance
October 16, 7 p.m.
Klaipėda Culture Factory (Bangų g. 5A, Klaipėda)
 https://bit.ly/Flocking_Klaipėda

Flocking is a phenomenon that occurs in nature and in the human world: birds fly in flocks in the sky, people gather in groups… It is also a compositional form in which reflections and shadows move in groups.

Regardless of place, time, or origin, we are united in gatherings by a collective body language that recalls the beginnings of humanity. Flocking is created from movements that bring us together and unite us. The performance was inspired by a catalog of photographs compiled by Paris-based choreographer Joanne Leighton, which captures various gatherings of people: protests, celebrations, rituals. It is a reflection of the world we live in.

For more than a decade, Joanne Leighton has been meticulously collecting photographs of people gathered together from different countries and cultures around the world. The choreographer uses this photo atlas as a visual score, which she draws on when creating a performance dedicated to the universal movements that unite us.

These photographs are embodied on stage by eight dancers, who create scenes of demonstrations, rituals, dance, and revelry. Their movement language is authentic and unembellished. The dancers embody the memories captured in the photographs, while the music transports the audience to another time. This choreography creates a very personal and empathetic relationship with the audience.

The repetition, juxtaposition, and layering of images on stage create a moving cartography, and the movement, though contemporary, seems to bring back gestures that testify to the beginnings of humanity. These movements unite us and form the basis of our humanity. The bodies in the performance, whether gentle or provocative, closed or open, balancing between chaos and stillness, create a powerful physical language that we immediately recognize and with which we feel a sense of community.

This layering is also reflected in the musical score of the performance. The soundtrack of Flocking combines the sounds of Steve Reich, Peter Crosbie, and Lithuanian sutartinės.

A strobe light is used during the performance.

This performance is part of the French-Lithuanian contemporary dance program KlaipėDAnse.

Choreographer: Joanne Leighton

Music: "Come Out" by Steve Reich, "Flocking Score" by Peter Crosbie, Neringa Rekašiūtė, Elvina Nevardauskaitė, Eglė Plytnikaitė "Devynios liepos" (Nine Julys), Akvilė Kalaušytė, Justina Jančiūnaitė, Saulenė Pečiulytė Kūkal rože ratilio
Costume designer: Sandra Straukaitė
Lighting designer: Romain de Lagarde
Dancers: Dovilė Binkauskaitė, Niels Claes, Gintarė Marija Ūsė, Ema Senkuvienė, Inga Kuznecova, Oksana Griaznova, Marija Untulytė, Eivinas Dziena Artistic
director of Šeiko Dance Theatre: Agnija Šeiko
Producer: Judita Strumilaitė
Co-production: Šeiko Dance Theatre, WLDN / Joanne Leighton

The project is funded by: Klaipėda City Municipality, French Institute in Lithuania, Lithuanian Council for Culture

Partners: French Embassy in Lithuania, National Choreographic Center of Caen in Normandy