Dance theatre maker Stefan Jovanović presents the latest bespoke Wild Card offering with Constellations, an atmospheric evening of rituals, dark comedy and dance at the Lilian Baylis Studio on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 June. Wild Card is an increasingly popular Sadler’s Wells initiative, presenting unique evenings curated by a new generation of dance-makers since 2013.
Constellations explores the relationship between power and gender through an eclectic series of vignettes, featuring historically marginal archetypes of witches, fools and prophets. Summoning stereotypes from Western culture, Constellations includes a dance piece called Radical Togetherness, which investigates the generating of new forms of audience-performer relationship, situated at the threshold of a travelling circus, ballroom and phantasmagorical pop club. Gender fluidity and social dancing are invoked to examine new ways of understanding social politics – specifically how to be together in a common physical and emotional space.
Jovanović, originally trained in architecture, makes his first foray into dance after immersing himself into different performative practices over the last six years, including participating in Sadler’s Wells Summer University (2015-2018). Constellations builds on his singular sensibility and perspective, enabling him to question what brings us together in the theatre in a unique way.
A distinctive coven of dancers, performers, multimedia artists, architects and practising healers host the evening. Collaborators include dancers Pau Aran Gimeno (Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch), Katye Coe, Roni Katz and Sara Ruddock, filmmaker Charlie Cattrall, composer Domenico Angarano and singer-songwriter Bliss Carmxn. Also part of the congregation is mask-maker Damselfrau, lighting designer Patrick Morris, playground set designer Jack Hardy, make-up artist Hamilton Stansfield and fashion couturier Curtis Oland.
Performers directly engage the audience to reconsider the idea of who in society holds marginal and dominant roles, and why. Constellations challenges conventional dance-forms and their gendered stereotypes in an inviting and thoughtful manner, through a rich palette of movement, song, drag and symbolism.
Contains nudity and strong language
Research and development supported by Sadler’s Wells, Siobhan Davies Dance, and Arts Council England.