CHASING A GHOST
ALEXANDRA BACHZETSIS (CH)
Alexandra Bachzetsis draws from histories of art, music, cinema, popular culture and fashion, and projects them onto the body. Through this method of citation, The artist considers how our bodies are used and can be activated in today’s increasingly polarizing discussions around identity and body politics.
In her newly commissioned work Chasing a Ghost, which premieres at the Art Institute of Chicago, Bachzetsis continuously creates a double—a double body, a double sound, a double space, a double image. Challenging the choreographic archetype of the duet, the performance stages these doubles within a spectrum of violence and desire. Central to this duality, a double in of itself, is the notion of the uncanny: an estranging phenomenon in a seemingly ordinary context, but also the potential act of transgression as our repressed impulses and subconsciousness may at any time rupture into our experience of reality.
Chasing a Ghost encompasses a choreography for five dancers (including the artist herself), an original music score played live by two pianists, and a stage setting that shifts between live movement and moving image. As such, Bachzetsis transforms the duet into an unsettling picture, the movement between two bodies a distressing and unexpected occurrence, a perpetual folie-à-deux that challenges how we look at ourselves and others.
WED 28.09.2022 | 20.30
PALCO TEATRO LAC – LUGANO
22.00 After-show meeting with the audience,
moderator Francesca Benini MASI Museum Curator
introduction Tobia Bezzola, MASI Museum Director and Carmelo Rifici, LAC Theatre Artistic Director
CHASING A GHOST
concept and choreography Alexandra Bachzetsis
collaboration concept and stage Sotiris Vasiliou
creation and performance Alexandra Bachzetsis, Johanna Willig-Rosenstein, Owen Ridley-DeMonick, Gabriel Schenker, Sotiris Vasiliou
music arrangement and performanceSimon Bucher and Mischa Cheung
sound concept Lies Vanborm
commissioning curator Hendrik Folkerts
dramaturgy Dorota Sajewska
costume design/fashionLéa Dickely and Hung La / Kwaidan Editions
costume design conceptual advice and research Christian Hersche
costume design/styling Priska Morger and Eva Buehler
communication design Julia Born
photography Mathilde Agius , Andreas Warren Matti, Fabienne Watzke
hair and make up shooting Stephanie Kunz
technical direction/light designPatrik Rimann
sound engineering Jonas Häni
technical support tour Matyas Bokor
management Anna Geering
production Association All Exclusive, Anna Geering, Daphni Antoniou
tour management Daphni Antoniou
commissioned by The Art Institute of Chicago
supported by Ciità di Zurigo, cantone Zurigo, Pro Helvetia—Swiss Arts Council, Ernst und Olga Gubler-Hablützel Stiftung, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, Migros-Kulturprozent, Sophie und Karl Binding Stiftung
co-produced by Art Gallery of Ontario; Mudam Luxembourg; PACT Zollverein, Essen; Tanzquartier Wien; Bundeskunsthalle Bonn; Julidans, Amsterdam; Gessnerallee Zürich.
this performance is a co-production Fondo Programmatori RESO, Rete svizzera della danza
con il supporto di Pro Helvetia—Swiss Arts Council
in-kind sponsorship Yamaha Pianos, provided by Yamaha Artist Services, New York; Kwaidan Editions, London
additional thanks to Cynthia Leung, Edward Traskowski, Paul B. Preciado, Adam Szymczyk, Verena Bachzetsis, Jannis Tsingaris, André Desponds, Aphroditi Antoniou, Raphael Hefti, and Li Tavor
