Wasted Skin

Choreography: Uri Ivgi en Johan Greben

about the intense longing for others, for touch

Being touched is a basic necessity of life – you feel that you exist. Skin hunger, that’s what the craving for physical intimacy is also called. Right now, with the Coronavirus, it is recognizable to everyone. But there’s more; the open-mindedness of physical contact has also been affected by the physical distance and apparent perfection of digital images and communication. What does this do to us?

In WASTED SKIN, the dancers depict the effect of physical proximity and distance on feeling and behaviour. It is about wanting to reclaim social and physical open-mindedness.

We see a stage image with zones of merciless light and nurturing darkness. The dancers try to bridge the alienation and mutual distance with ritual sequences of movements. Instinctively they are drawn to the warmth of another’s skin. They dance for their lives and yet the safety of the group can suddenly turn into an acute threat.

The choreography of this new piece celebrates the beauty and power of body language. The piece is built up with contrasting parts that sometimes end abruptly, then suddenly start again. Ivgi&Greben magnify the longing and the loneliness with an erratic warm/cold mix – emotionless, sometimes mechanical – to make these feelings even more palpable for the audience.