BLOT - Body Line of Thought
performance, 42 min, 2022
ABOUT
BLOT explores movement in relation to the bacteria in our body. The show presents the body as an interconnected system, strong and fragile at the same time. Designed as a hybrid format, a mix of conference and choreographic show, BLOT talks about similarities between humans and other animals, such as perspiration, smell, reproduction, physical exercise, and immunity. Moving from the micro to the macro, the work highlights how bacteria influence these processes and connect us to the wider ecosystem of the planet.
CONCEPT
Following the events that have defined the recent history of our interaction with the environment, it is necessary to look at the body as a system that cannot exist outside the multitude it contains. Stripped of the social meanings determined by language, BLOT redefines the body through a dialogue about our coexistence with microbiological life.
The two female performers work with seemingly invisible connections, but without which the human organism could not function. BLOT examines human existence through the lenses of dependence and control, focusing on the fine line between what is beneficial and what is toxic. Our bodies carry unique microbial fingerprints that help define our identities. Our social choreography is often disrupted by an imbalance between the inner and outer worlds, which we continuously disturb.
PROCESS
Salt plays a key role in BLOT as a restructuring, cleansing, and binding agent. Essential to human survival, sodium is a common thread connecting ocean, soil, and body—a universal element that sustains life. On stage, a dune of salt becomes a new body in itself. Our perspiration system defines our biological identity through our unique body odor created by bacteria. During the 40 minutes performance, another small dune is created by a device suspended from the ceiling, slowly releasing salt throughout the show.
In preparation for each performance, the two dancers cultivate their own body bacteria in Agar-Agar over the course of a month. These microbial cultures are visualized live during the show, projected as Petri dish imagery on a TV screen. The resulting visuals depict a choreographed microscopic world that, when exposed, resembles an alien macro-landscape.
BLOT uses ideas borrowed from anatomy, transporting the body into states of repetition, fluidity, compassion, and empathic reactions. Movement is a transitory presence and an intersubjective experience. Through this method, the artists test different ways of living concerning nature, affecting and being affected.
CREDITS
concept and choreography Simona Deaconescu, Vanessa Goodman
performers Simona Dabija, Maria Luiza Dimulescu
artistic consultants Olivia Nițiș, Marta de Menezes
music Monocube
object design Ciprian Ciuclea, Paula Viitanen, Juan Carlos Aldazosa Bazua
light design Marius Costache, Alexandros Raptis, James Proudfoot
assistant choreographer Georgeta Corca
production Laura Trocan, Andreea Andrei
production design on tour Diana Miroșu
graphic design PRETTY/UGLY DESIGN
producers & partners Tangaj Collective, Action at a Distance, The National Center for Dance Bucharest, Plastic Orchid Factory
co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund Romania, Canada Council for the Art*
supported by Cultivamos Cultura in the frame of Biofriction
presented by Left of Main, Plastic Orchid Factory
*The project does not necessarily represent the position of AFCN — The Administration of the National Cultural Fund in Romania. AFCN is not responsible for the project’s content or how the project results can be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the financing.
BLOT, acronym of Body Line Of Thought, is undoubtedly the most emblematic performance of the 2023 edition of Antistatic. The almost hypnotic dance of the performers, whose movements are at times fragmented, at times very fluid, makes it easy to see in detail how their muscles contract and release, how their breathing expands their diaphragms, or how the impulses flow through their limbs and spines. In this case nudity is simply taken as a scientific necessity, as the measurement tools the dancers wear highlight. I see BLOT as an opportunity to be guided by two performative bodies through a personal line of thoughts (as the title suggests), triggered by explanations about biology, which are therefore connected with ourselves.
It stood out as a captivating exploration of the complex nature of human identity. At first glance, the performance appears to revolve around the human body and its connection with biology, a perception reinforced by the nudity of the two female performers. As the performance unfolded, however, it became clear that BLOT went deeper, revealing the intricacies of each individual’s unique microbial footprint and the symbiotic relationship we share with bacteria. By blending elements of lecture, choreographic research, and installation that incorporate salt, bacteria video projection, the performance delves into the themes of the human experience, exploring its functionality and challenging conventional notions of identity.
The perfect choreographic and performance work creates a complete and convincing stage world. On the sterile white stage with a white backdrop, a “body line of thought” is projected, exhibiting a state of consciousness at a specific moment in time. The setting is laboratory-like, creating a sense of a surreal painting that visualizes processes within subjective consciousness. In this setting, the conscious bodies of the two dancing girls, Simona Dabija and Maria Luiza Dimulescu, are situated. These bodies are devoid of eroticism and somewhat “disembodied,” present solely to illustrate a “line of thought.” The choreography is supported by set design and music, which with measured precision make the thought tangible and visually impactful.
In BLOT the body itself becomes a stage for a porous process of negotiation between skin and senses, the salt in our sweat and the microbes in our gut. […] The two nude performers are not eroticised; their bodies are systems and materials to be explored. A mountain of salt looms in the background. A screen shows cultures of bacteria growing on agar plates, like microscopic countries expanding their borders on an empty map.[…] The performers move around the stage in solitude, but the rare touches leave a lasting impression, showing how identity and self leak beyond skin. BLOT leaves us with the quiet, destabilising awareness that to be human is to be plural, between sweat and breath, with the bacteria constantly growing and moving to the passing rhythms of time.
MARÍNA SRNKA, SPRINGBACK MAGAZINE, Article
Simona Dabija and Maria Luiza Dimulescu command the space. With deadpan expressions and rigorously choreographed gestures, their bodies are entirely exposed save for microphone packs taped to their arms. Salt slowly trickles down from a bag above the stage, creating a pyramid on the floor. One of the performers takes a camera and zooms in on a petri-dish on stage. In these simple images, poetry meets science. What the image actually shows is bacteria from the performers’ bodies. The work never points to female vulnerability; intriguingly, the more they speak of human biology, the more severed from it they appear. The effect is unsettling: naked bodies that begin to read like costumes– skinsuits hovering on the edge of the uncanny valley– even as we know they are as human as anyone in the audience, down to the smallest microbe.
Part conference presentation, part movement research, performers Simona Dabija and Maria-Luiza Dimulescu’s movements are hypnotically strange, bound, and specific. Each breath is made visible with a controlled stomach wave. We see soft bellies flow, expand, and contract in a constant everyday movement we each know so well, but so seldom see nakedly on others. […] The performers’ nudity allows us to see the complexity of their movements, though as they remind us, they are not naked: their skin is layered with microorganisms. Points on the body; right inner elbow, left mid-thigh, sternum; glide, stop, turn, and swivel, as if they are computerized router bits on a cutting machine.
LEAH CROSBY, SEATTLE DANCES, Article