Ola Maciejewska draws inspiration from Daisy Hildyard's book The Second Body, diving into the urgent dialogue on human impact on the climate and ecology. Hildyard's narrative proposes that humans possess two bodies: the tangible flesh and bone, and an abstract form intertwined with the environment. In this performance, a human body shares the stage with a block of ice—one, a living organism rich with liquid, the other, frozen tap water. The Second Body presents a meeting point between these two forms, highlighting interdependence, scale, and sensory experience.
Ola Maciejewska draws inspiration from Daisy Hildyard’s book The Second Body, diving into the urgent dialogue on human impact on the climate and ecology. Hildyard’s narrative proposes that humans possess two bodies: the tangible flesh and bone, and an abstract form intertwined with the environment.
Intrigued by this ambivalence, Maciejewska explores the dissolving of the boundaries between object and subject, animate and inanimate, to the point where we can observe the choreographic process of matter and bodies becoming interrelated and co-dependent. On stage, a human body and a block of ice—one, a complex organism made of muscles, bones and veins, 80% of which is liquid; the other, made of frozen tap water. Neither a duet nor a solo, The Second Body invites to witness the permeability of these two bodies of water in constant transformation. A manifesto on interdependence, scale, and radical exteriority, celebrating the immediacy and richness of sensory experience.
Performed by / Interprétation: Leah Marojević
Dance construction (form in ice): Alix Boillot
Prototype and mold: Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini
Sound, dramaturgy in collaboration: Gilles Amalvi
Light: Rima Ben Brahim
Production / Administration: so we might as well dance – Caroline Redy
Production assistant: Capucine Goin
Diffusion development & touring management: Anouk Peytavin
Thanks to: Daisy Hildyard, David Toppani, Charlotte Wallet, Pascal Chevé, Camille Cosson and Guenaël Morvan. Thanks to CND for lending studio.
Coproduction: Ménagerie de Verre, Paris, Watermill Center, New York, ICI – CCN Montpellier Occitanie, Montpellier, C.A.M.P. Presqu’île de Gâvres
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
The company is supported by Ministère de la Culture – Drac Bretagne
This work is dedicated to Simone Forti.
Photo: Maria Baranova-Suzuki
Visit in collaboration: Kiasma Theatre
Visit supported by: Embassy of Poland, Spectacle Vivant en Bretagne, Institut Français Finlande
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