Sisus Sirkus vender tilbage til DYNAMO for at arbejde videre på Memoirs of Mud: En provokerende, legende og modig forestilling, der takler temaer som kønsroller, ligestilling, autenticitet og frihed.
Om kompagniet
Sisus er et cirkuskompagni fra Finland bestående rent af kvinder. Siden 2014 har de lavet adskillige projekter, og i august 2016 havde de deres første udendørshow i fuld længde ved navn Mosh Split. I øjeblikket er Sisus ved at arbejde på to nye shows ved navn ‘Memoirs of Mud’ og ‘Plus Plus’.
Læs mere om kompagniet: http://www.sisus.net/
IN CONVERSATION WITH SISUS SIRKUS
Q: This is your second residency in DYNAMO, working on the same performance. What has changed since you were here last – in the direction for Memoirs of Mud, artistic elements, etc.?
A: After our work in progress presentation we decided to continue pushing some of the ideas further and to stop with some that didnʼt make the cut (kill our darlings style). Now we are in the stage of defining and polishing our ideas and working with the different narratives. Itʼs really about piecing the puzzle together. We are forced to navigate through this residency a little different due to an injury (Inka had a back surgery 4 months ago) and it’s making space for a lot of sound scape research as well as the ideas and transitions and dramaturgy. This is still our second residency so we are giving room for ideas to blossom and inspiration to take us to unexpected places. We donʼt want to lose the playfulness and element of surprise, which have been such a big part of our process so far, even when we are getting closer to finishing the show.
Q: Can you share a bit about the choice of title? How does it relate to the core concepts of your work – activism, feminism, equality, etc?
A: So basically to narrow it down to three main inspirations that link to our title:
1. Vivienne Westwood’s collection ‘Nostalgia of Mudʼ has inspired us in multiple ways; her perseverance to her creativity, her kick-ass punk attitude and her activism. It also matches themes regarding fashion which we have been inspired by and comment on during the show.
2. The idea of using mud on stage and revisiting the time in our lives when we were carelessly getting dirty without any worry in the world.
3. The notion of ‘memoir’ gives us freedom to explore all kind of memories so far and creatively apply them into our work.
Q: What has been the feedback from your peers on your progress on the show so far?
A: Weʼve had really supportive and constructive feedback to continue the process. It was really reinforcing to receive so supportive feedback from our spoken word part that for us is one of the most vulnerable parts of the show, as it was something we had never done before on stage.
Q: We were all quite mesmerised by the element of spoken word performance. Are you keeping it for the final version of the show? What role does it serve (dramaturgically) in the performance?
A: Thank you! We are definitely keeping it!! We had so much fun trying out this new thing and anything to make the audience laugh in these times is a keeper. Dramaturgically it’s still part of the puzzle and we seem to be addicted to adding lyrics.
Q: In your work in progress showing last October in DYNAMO, there was a strong presence of organic elements – the soil, the roots… potatoes were a concept you were excited about. Have you continued your research with other elements for your scenography, or went more in depth with the same?
A: We are still very excited about the possibilities that the soil gives us and how strongly it relates to our themes. More vegetables, more dum ideas and better quality soil (AA1 H1 plain white turf ;)) to keep things playful and fun. It’s interesting to work with soil because there is a massive conflict of the soil being so liberating to play in and at the same time challenging to spend so long in the shower trying to get it out from every hole of our bodies…. What a nice reminder that we have to sacrifice our comfort for art.
Q: In your past residency you worked with Santiago Ruiz as an outside eye. Has that relationship continued? (Or do you have new creative collaborations – be it with an outside eye, scenographer, musician…?)
A: We had such a great time last time with Santiago. Already from the beginning it was a clear decision to work with 3 different outside eyes throughout the process. So far this has been an amazing: our outside eyes have been so well-suited to where we are in the creation. So this time we are working with Vejde Grind and in the next residency we will work with Gabriella Munoz. We chose three really different artists from different backgrounds to bring out different flavours.
The residency is supported by Nordic Culture Point – Funding for Artists Residencies, Odense Kommune, and Statens Kunstfond.
