a quiet hope
“We write history with our feet and with our presence and our collective voice and vision.”
- Rebecca Solnit
Hope is rooted in open-eyed reality. The unpredictability of our lives is the ground from which hope arises; uncertainty gives us agency to act, and an opportunity to realise the consequences of our actions. As we find ourselves compelled to reach out to others amidst seemingly precarious times, we must also remain grounded to provide support.
This piece is a study of the forces we encounter and a gentle reminder of the individual’s power to influence the collective. A celebration of interconnectedness and shared vulnerability, a quiet hope requires us to come to terms with uncertainty, to embrace the unknown and to trust that individual perseverance and collective effort are what can build the groundwork for change.
Choreography Wilhelmina Ojanen, created in collaboration with the performers
Performers Coral Montejano Cantoral, Flavien Cornilleau, Alex Miklósy and Miia Mäkilä
Composer Andrew Marriott
Music Original music by Andrew Marriott
Duration 20 minutes
This piece originally premiered 9&10th of October 2018 at Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio as part of the Young Associates Mixed Bill.
Review
British Theatre Guide
“The choreography, on the other hand makes for joyous viewing with some beautifully executed contact improvisation moments a la Frantic Assembly—the company behind the movement of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Here, Ojanen offers simple connections in the form of pull and push techniques—“a gentle reminder of the individual’s power to influence the collective,” she says. When four dancers close their eyes and feel their way through waves of movement dependent and trusting that the other dancers will catch them them in their darkness, the effect is magnetic—equally for the bodily shapes it creates visually as for the hair-raising anticipation of falling.”