Duet part II
Delivery (the same way you showed)
Wild is the Wind
Duet part I
Loge
green screen
(ah ah ah) (theatre (version)
(Ah Ah Ah)
Implosive Parts
EYES EARS MOUTH HALF CLOSED
BESIDE YOU IN TIME
PALLAS, ARGINE, JUDIT, RACHEL
BALANCING ACT
Sommer des Zögerns
Twin Thing
Ozone
HOW CAN I CALL WHAT IS BETWEEN US
PIAZZETTA
Artistic direction, choreography, concept Juliette Uzor
Performance, Co-Choreographie Juliette Uzor, Axelle Stiefel
Sound Axelle Stiefel
Stage Juliette Uzor
Costumes Sven Gex
Outside Eye Marie Jeger
Light Thomas Giger
Production Patricia Bianchi/mixed orientations
Booklet design Sonja Flury
The starting point for Juliette Uzor’s dance performance (ah ah ah) (theatre version) is the 1801 essay “Über das Marionettentheater” (On the Marionette Theatre) by German poet Heinrich von Kleist. In Kleist’s essay, a dancer named C. and the narrator talk about the peculiarities of puppetry and the relationship between the puppet and the puppeteer, who must attain a high level of dexterity in order to make the puppets dance.
Fascinated by the text’s artificiality and its intellectual games, (ah ah ah) (theatre version) raises questions about gravity, the (re)presentation and orientation of today’s bodies while playing with the appeal of artificial intelligence. What directions do the strings run in, whose fingers are holding on to them, who is dancing?
In (ah ah ah) (theatre version), Juliette Uzor explores the complex relationship between movement and language. Together with guest artist Axelle Stiefel aka The Operator, (ah ah ah) (theatre version) goes to places where sound, rhythm, imagery and the meaning of words follow their own logic. Combining glitches and syncopation, the narrative is built around the unpredictability of body language. In the bespoke stage set, a green beaded curtain itself represents the spectacle’s pleasurable nature. A water dispenser bearing the Eden brand stands ready as a thirst quencher for afterwards. The antithesis of dance, according to Mr. C., is resting, a moment that should be made to vanish as much as possible.
Juliette Uzor is an artist and dancer. She works with movement and the positioning of bodies in space, exploring their dynamic and ambivalent relationships to one another. With a focus on site and rhythm, her work opens up multiple perspectives and temporalities. For Juliette Uzor, these artistic strategies serve as a means of reflecting on social structures. Her practice engages with both the concreteness and the abstraction of movement. Since 2024, Juliette has been a mother, which has opened up new dimensions in relation to her primary working instrument, the body.
After studying art history, art and mediation in Bern and Zurich, followed by a 3-year training in Contemporary Dance at La Manufacture, Lausanne, she has found herself in various positions and projects. She has shown most of her own works at the Tanzhaus Zürich, the Gessnerallee Zürich, the Kunsthallen Zürich and St.Gallen, the Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, the Ménagerie de Verre Paris and various off-spaces. She has amongst others worked with Alina Arshi, Marie Jeger, Natasza Gerlach, Elie Autin, Isabel Lewis, Eleanor Bauer and Cosima Grand. In 2020, she received a cultural award from the City of Zurich. In summer 2021 Juliette is part of the Performance Art Festival in Freetown, Sierra Leone and is nominated for the Prix Mobilière. 2022 Juliette is awarded a work grant from the Canton of St.Gallen. In 2023 she receives the MANOR Art Prize St.Gallen and in 2024 a Swiss Art Award.
Production and booking:
oh la la performing arts production
yamina@oh-la-la.ch