-Utopia Room-
Utopia Room, a choreographic duet, was premiered as part of Resolution Festival 2020, an annual festival of new choreography in London. Since then it has been performed at Bristol Old Vic, Freiart festival, Theatre mairie de Perpignan, Festival Tautavel and Messums Wiltshire.
Utopia Room explores the mental and physical connections of
our personal lives. It exposes the inappropriate behaviour and absurdity of the codes imposed on us in our daily lives. Through the movements, it subtly use humour and irony to counterbalance the complexity of this subject. This piece represent a timeless bubble, a time for reflection, the pleasure of memories without them preventing us from moving forward. Utopia Room invites you to look at the world and the society with a less serious, simpler view, to de-dramatise imperfection, mistakes and differences.
This piece discusses the embellishment of perfection and represents the imperfection itself in a complete parallel world. Human is also defined by his imperfection, his difference and by his sensitivity. We cannot ignore certain behaviors. However does beauty not emerge from our moment of vulnerability?
Idealizing perfection is willingly ignoring the beauty of humanity: sensitivity and vulnerability. Utopia Room suggests its audience reflect on the notion of individuals within our society.
'Wearing matching oversized suits in opposing colours, they expertly offer a warped reflection with complex, intricate and comedic choreography. However, following a startling explosion of confetti, things takes a sober twist and the movement strays from the comical into more vulnerable territory. Muted, greyscale colouring, an army of forgotten balloons floating eerily in the background, discarded confetti littering the floor, we are left with the feeling of being abandoned at a melancholy birthday party. As the shortest piece of the evening, you'll wish it were longer.'
-Hannah Barron
'Utopia Room managed the rare distinction of being a mass of disparate influences within a work that still possessed a rounded structural symmetry. They performed mostly as a duet, initially in close harmony with the familiar music of The Girl from Ipanema. The baggy outer elements of their ill-fitting suits were eventually peeled away and a third performer (Julia Ueda as a kind of irregular “magician’s” assistant) brought on props and burst pink balloons. A surprising reveal of a spinney of said balloons at variable heights against the back wall was a clever coup de théâtre.'
-Graham Watts
Direction & choreography:
Adélie Lavail, Olivia Grassot
Designers:
Eliandro Monteiro, Ifigeneia Gkarani
Lightings:
Lucia Sanchez Roldan
Music:
The Girl From Ipanema (Antonio Carlos Jobim)
Malagueña (Perez Prado)
Performers:
Adélie Lavail, Olivia Grassot, Julia Ueda