LAND
“...a kind of timeplace for learning to stay with the trouble of living and dying in responsibility on a damaged earth...” - Donna Haraway
In the prospect of an uncertain future, this poetic diptych is an attempt to come to terms with ecological grief. When mourning the loss of landscapes, species and ecosystems, we ultimately mourn our collective history: this work weaves reflections, memories and stories of the more-than-human earth in which we dwell. A resonant reminder of what matters most, LAND is an invitation to reflect on the relationship of our bodies to the kin and the soil.
LAND first premiered July 17th 2019, Sadler’s Wells Main Stage, London, UK.
LAND is a piece for five performers. It in comprised of set moments and structured improvisation, structured in a way that journeys through states of group efforts to delicate solo moments, alternating between individual and collective stories.
Choreographer: Wilhelmina Ojanen
Dramaturg: Flavien Cornilleau
Performers: Theo Arran, Coral Montejano Cantoral, Fabian Jackson, Miia Mäkilä and Gil Ratcliffe
Lighting design: Ryan Stafford
Music: Jack Barton & Andrew Marriott
Costume design: Vivien Wilson
Duration: Part 1 - 20 min / interval / Part 2 - 20 min
Photography by Helen Murray
Reviews
“...while Wilhelmina Ojanen’s confident Land gives us dreamy forest people who lose their earth, trees, community and trust.”
“Wilhelmina Ojanen’s Land, which ends both the first and second half, explores the relationship between humanity and the earth in two very different modes. In the first half, we have colour and vibrancy, with the five dancers working exceptionally well together in a rural microcosm. They seem to plant and become trees, being both explorers of the landscape and the landscape itself. The choreography is daring and inventive, with some extraordinary lifts showcasing the fearlessness of the dancers. The second half is a paradise lost, an empty stage with all the colour and vibrancy drained out. The dancers move like creatures tumbled into the abyss, points of gold on their costumes suggesting something of the angelic. More biblical references come through in the striking final image, in which one dancer slips out of her clothes like a seed growing and stands nude onstage, reaching upwards towards the light. It is a moving and thought-provoking piece, working well with the structure of the evening to create something of significance.”
“In the final act, Wilhelmina Ojanen presents the audience with Land, which displays the relation between humans and the very soil on which they live.Spectators witness the dancers, with a great deal of sensitivity and empathy, handle various plants and soil while performing to the sombre and powerful music, highlighting the necessary grief humanity feels – or will feel – at the prospect of ruining their planet.”