A Plot / A Scandal
Ligia Lewis
The word “plot” refers not only to the action of a story but also to a piece of land, depending on the context. It can also be a verb: to scheme, possibly endangering the existing order – which has led Ligia Lewis to position scandal as a cultural manifestation. Scandals are incidents of disruption where fantasy and pleasure take centre stage. Guided by the questions for whom this pleasure is for and at what expense, as well as where the connecting lines between scandal and plot run historically, Lewis's new plot explores the stage where scandals abound. Weaving together historical, anecdotal, political and mythical narratives − ranging from an interest in the Enlightenment thinker John Locke, Maria Olofa (Wolofa) in the slave revolt of Santo Domingo in 1521, and Lewis’s great grandmother, a figure Lewis turns to within her plot as a guide of resistance − the choreographer and dancer constructs the poetics of refusal at the edges of representation. A dance between affect and embodiment, seeing and being seen. As is so often the case in Lewis's work, “A Plot / A Scandal” creates a space full of excitement, in which images emerge that have a resonance and express more than language can. These fantastically beguiling and at the same time repulsive visual worlds reveal the artist’s high formal awareness.
The work unfolds through the following parts:
Prelude
Plot 1 John Locke
Plot 2 Rebellion
Intermezzo: John Locke cleans up his mess
Plot 3: Story of Lolon / fuck up the plot
Outro: Repair ?
Performance: Ligia Lewis
Choreographic assistance & alternating performer: Corey Scott-Gilbert, Justin Kennedy
Research & dramaturgy: Sarah Lewis-Cappellari
Research: Michael Tsouloukidse
Lighting design & technical direction: Joseph Wegmann
Lights (Tour): Claes Schwennen
Music composition & sound design: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow, Wynne Bennett
Voice over: George Lewis Jr AKA Twin Shadow
Sound technician: Max Eilbacher, Neda Sanai
Set design: Ligia Lewis
Costume: SADAK
Stage technician: Jachya Freeth, Şenol Şentürk
Production & administration: Sina Kießling
Production & distribution: Nicole Schuchardt
Production assistance: Julia Leonhardt
Production: Ligia Lewis
Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Ruhrtriennale, Arsenic - Centre d'art scénique contemporain (Lausanne), Tanzquartier Wien, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER (Gent), Kaserne Basel, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis MN).
Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe
With the residency support of: Callie’s, O Espaço do Tempo
Supported by: the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ Coproduction Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.