SPIELART Festival: PENDING

European premiere

A rehearsal room. Silence. A dancer remains in a pose, then repeats a movement. Exercises, instructions, pauses - everything points to an intense inner struggle. In PENDING, the highly precise dancer from the Indian Odissi, January Low, opens the window to a process that the audience otherwise hardly sees: the silent, often lonely search for perfection. During the coronavirus pandemic, her training shifted to digital - without a stage, without applause. She used this time not only for technical refinement, but also for reflection: on patience, on compassion, on the traditional role of women - and mothers - in classical Indian dance. What does it mean to practise Odissi in a contemporary way as a woman, and how can it be developed further? Focusing on the "sacred stillness" of practicing, January Low makes the depth and invisibility of artistic work tangible in her practice - beyond the expected "end product" of a performance.