ODA
Informed by my exploration of the tensions between the observer and the observed, this piece is a study of the female body at rest and the power dynamics at play. The work will be an experiment in observation. I am interested in the pleasures of being observed, and the violences of being surveilled and objectified. I wonder how do femme performers negotiate working whilst being watched? How is the gaze used as a tool? To what extent is pleasure present in these dynamics of observation? How do we resist objectification and surveillance whilst being observed? How can we potentialize notions of resistance with actions of insistence? What are we insisting on when we are constantly observing others observing us? Focusing on the image of the woman at rest popularized by classical European painters, and the cabareteras of the Mexican films of the 1950´s, I study gestures to speculate on the ways these women appropriated the gaze as a form of resistance. The movement will also be informed by Helenic sculptures of the Myth of Ariadne, which I believe to be a possible origin of the images of women at rest.
The piece is currently being developed. 

Thank you to GALLIM DANCE for the space and resources provided during the MOVING ARTIST RESIDENCY 2023 in New York City.