Glass Hand in Hand, 2022
30 min performancePerformed by Ewa Poniatowska and Gloria Regotz
Music by Ewa Poniatowska
Comissioned by Creamcake
Musick Installationen Nürnberg, July 2022
This work is about missed connections. It’s both a rite of separation and an ode to togetherness, embodying the universal cliche of push & pull. An elegant ball turns into a nightmare where white napkins are stained with purple liquid. Symbols of luxury and femininity are being worked as the performance unfolds around the idea of The Two- 2 protagonists, 2 doppelgangers, 2 sides of the same person, 2 lovers, 2 opposing forces exchanging. Music is the driving narrative force. As there is no dialogue the performers communicate gesturally, brawl, untangle an invisible thread connecting them, march intertwined and bump into walls almost as if trapped in a pararell reality. They drink purple liquid to immediately spit it, each sip intensifying the atmosphere, movement and music.
At the cente of the room there is a black wall that separates The Two. A precise mirroring choreography begins where they reflect each other’s movements, spilling on the wall, spitting etc. At one point they start peeling the black foil on both sides to reveal transparent plastic that the wall is made of, placing focus on layers of visibility and nonvisibility. In the process the wall becomes a sheer obstacle but also an object of (dis)connection.
I was hoping to embrace the tensions between comfort and discomfort, brutality and tenderness, fragility and strength. Power and compliance are in conversation.
