ON/CRYING – The Gravity of Tears by Antoinette Helbing

TIME 3, 4, 5 September 19h30 – open rehearsal 2 Sept. 19h30
PLACE Dansekapellet, Bispebjerg Torv 1, Cph. NV
WHAT Performance
FREE ENTRY – reservation recommended

Reserve free ticket

 

An ode to tears

Crying is the most basic way of communicating. And yet most of us unlearn the ability to cry in front of others. Crying has become private.

ON/CRYING gives us back crying as something liberating and healing. As something social that can bind us together. And as something rebellious and unfamiliar in a society that appears paralyzed and anxious while crises and wars prevail.

ON/CRYING gives homeless crying a home. The work is inspired by professional mourners, who cry without shame and without inhibitions. They cry with their whole bodies, with gestures, voice and text in rituals that are meant to help people get to the other side after major life changes. They become midwifes for new beginnings and new insights.

Just like the mourners, the two characters in the performance help us create space for crying. They let go of tears from the present, the past and the future, from themselves and from others.

We meet them in The Crying Room – an installation where liquids sparkle, drip, melt and flow as in a scientific laboratory. A distillery that resembles our tear ducts, and where the soundscape shifts between the thunderous expressive and the intimate whispering. It is the inner life that overflows.

In a time when we skate on the surface of our emotions, the performance invites us to dive into the wide spectrum of human emotions and spend time in this depth. On the other side of surrender, the new awaits.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Antoinette Helbing is a German choreographer based in Copenhagen. Her works are driven by a deep fascination with how the body is involved in social interactions. In recent years, she has explored phenomena such as laughter, crying, and how we humans create our self-image by interacting with each other. Most recently, she created The Laughing Crowd, which could be experienced during Metropolis 2023.

She constructs social spaces that awaken the senses and allow the audience to interact. As an audience, you are close to the performers. Antoinette Helbing is interested in the Feldenkrais method, and she has developed a choreographic practice that invites the spectators to slow down and immerse themselves in the performance with all their senses.

Duration: 80 min.

CREDITS

Photos: Arthur Aizikovich (1, 3), Jan Vesala (2, 4)

Supported by: The Danish Arts Council, Nordisk Kulturfond Opstart, Wilhelm Demant Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden, Dansk Skuespillerforbund, Knud Højgaards Fond, Aage og Johanne Louis- Hansens Fond, Beckett-Fonden & Hoffmann and Husmans Fond

Residencies: Akademiet KBH, Forsøgsstationen, Holstebro Dansekompagni, Dance Cooperative, Studio Alta Prag, Studio Tanca Banska Bystrica

Co-Production: Metropolis, PASSAGE Festival, Sydhavn Teater

Metropolis’ summer programme is supported by the City of Copenhagen and the Danish Arts Foundation