Premiere (2013) Maria Hassabi

Cypriot-born, New York based, dancer and choreographer Maria Hassabi feels equally at home in the black box of the theatre and in the white cube of the gallery. She became known for producing fascinating work that draws its strength from the tension between the human subject and the artistic object – the dancer as a performer and as a physical entity. Hassabi’s latest performance raises questions about the notion of the ‘premiere’, that fragile moment when a closed creation process becomes a public product. The doors leading into the theatre open. Five dancers are exhibited in asymmetrical poses between two brightly lit walls. The sculptural bodies move with a confident inertia. From this starting position, PREMIERE gently evolves into a series of tableaux vivants without end. In the shared space and with minimalist dramaturgy, light and sound also become full-fledged actors. Maria Hassabi deftly composes an intense universe of microscopic events.

(Program KunstenFestival Des Arts)