BREATH – 2000

BREATH depicts a body that is shattered, restricted by prohibitions and walled in by boundaries. It is a body that struggles to express itself. Nevertheless, despite the limitations of its environment, it survives.

This work is the first in a trilogy of dance performances developed over four years: BREATH (2000), BROKEN (2001) and LOVE (2003), all of which focused on the theme of a “locked” body. Evolved for performance in non-traditional spaces including prisons and churches, BREATH was hailed by critics as “raw and brilliant” and “the most important dance performance in Norway in 2000”.

Through 2000, BREATH was performed in various jails in the Oslo region, as well as at the Kulturkirken Jacob, Oslo, BIT Teatergarasjen in Bergen and the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer.

CHOREOGRAPHY: Marcelino Valiente & Gunhild Bjørnsgaard

PERFORMERS:Gunhild Bjørnsgaard/Pia Elton (second tour), Marcel Bassachs Birosta, Julien Monty.

LIGHTING: Leila Berg & Marcelino Valiente