MARIA KEFIROVA| The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a 60 min solo dance-theater performance for a dancer, voice recorder, 4 audio speakers and 25 kg of walnuts. The walnuts are used as a material that has a clear definition between inside and outside. The sound is used as a material with no inside or outside. The body is a surface between the inside and the outside. Sound , body and walnuts perform a series of dislocations and relocations, folding into each other in a process where sound becomes a body and a performer of its own. With this work I express my desire to share a certain shift of attention and to discover the presence of what seemed to be absent.
Maria Kefirova is a dancer and choreographer based in Montreal. Parallel to her work as a performer, she has been developing her own artistic practice combining dance, theatre, performance and video. The main focus in her work is the correlation between internal and external realities, as well as the body’s role as an interface between the two, which is at the heart of many of her works (The Nutcracker – 2014, Corps. Relations – 2010, Gold Meat – 2010, Manufacturing Tears – 2009). Through choreography she builds physical spaces for movement of attention, thought and energy (Distance – 2016, The Paradise -2015 and Why are dogs successful on stage? – 2012). Her work has been presented in different festivals and venues in Canada, US, Europe and Mexico. From 2009 to 2012, Maria was a participant at DasArts, a residential laboratory for performing arts, research and innovation located in Amsterdam. She teaches workshops and expands her own choreographic practice through collaborations with other artist (Miguel Melgarez, Jean -François Laporte, Hanako Hoshimi- Caines, Katie Ward, Jonathan Parant, Paul Chambers and Sameena Sitbakhan).
Credits
Choreography, performance and sound design: Maria Kefirova
Technical direction technique and lighting design: Paul Chambers
Artistic advisor: Claudia Fancello
Sound assistant : Jonathan Parant
Scenography: Miguel Melgares
Artistics advisor and coachs: Florence Figols, Sarah Hanley