H.U.M.A.N. || Here, Underdogs March At Night is an autoethnographical artistic research project, which aims to re-establish the meaning of the word “human” and its relation to the notion of “humanity”. Defining the latter is rather difficult, since sexual imbalance has been and continues to be exploited by Western contemporary society, in order to satisfy the social, cultural and political needs of the time. To subvert the rigid boundaries placed upon the human body and to underscore that, being human has nothing to do with gender orientation or following the social, religious and cultural protocol imposed by Western society, this work unfolds dramaturgically in a solely feminine dystopic world. Having as a starting point the stereotypical social event of a family gathering, seven women literally assume all roles within a social bubble and metaphorically represent the seven deadly sins, in search of reconnecting with their human nature and its benevolent traits. H.U.M.A.N. is based on a true story and draws references from philosophy (Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”, Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg’s Manifesto”, Catherine Malabou’s “The Ontology of the Accident”, Slavoj Žižek’s “The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema”) and cinema (Andrei Tarkovsky’s “Nostalgia”, David Lynch’s “The Elephant Man”, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s “The Capsule”, as well as practices of pantomime and clownery / Jerry Lewis, Buster Keaton). Initially, it emerged from a personal story of mine which evolves around one of the most crowded, traditional Greek family gatherings: Easter Sunday lunch. Through the use of amplification of stereotypical figures and relationships, H.U.M.A.N. starts from the personal to go to the collective and political. Representing human beings on stage only through the feminine imagery serves multiple purposes. To my understanding, we still live in a male-dominated world. Femininity and gender-fluidity are society’s underdogs, the weakest, the least likely to win a fight. This is also the essence of the descriptive title: “Here, Underdogs March at Night” refers to these – and consequently all – marginalized groups that are often unfairly treated and remain unheard, in the shadow of the man/other. With this piece, I aspire to question the validity of the rules our social construct is built upon, and comment on how these social, religious and cultural “guidelines” which are imposed on us, implicitly or explicitly, actually make us numb· We have forgotten who we are, we have forgotten to stand up for ourselves, and therefore to stand up for others when needed. On the other hand, through the passage of time, the negative embodied experience of marginalization and categorization can lead to an emotional and psychological oppression, which will undoubtedly manifest in the physical expression of the human body and lead to a need of destruction and revolt and recreation. H.U.M.A.N. acknowledges moments of friction, of connecting with our instincts, of generating chaos only to reestablish the balance within a group. It comments on today’s society of individualism and investigates ways of constructing a collective identity, as a means of restoring humanity.
Indicative timetable of the work In October 2022, I was fortunate to obtain an artistic residency at Murate Art District, in order to rehearse H.U.M.A.N. as a solo piece (original title H.U.MA.N. || Her Unforgiven MAsculine Narrations). During that creative period, I decided to open up the space to the dancing community of MAD and Florence, since my field of interest emerges from the personal but aspires to embrace the collective. Issues of Identity, Femininity, Gender Orientation, Categorization and Humanity are undoubtedly deeper understood if investigated within a group. By the end of the artistic residency mentioned above, I decided that H.U.M.A.N. will be disseminated in two forms: a multidisciplinary dance performance (50’ solo piece / trio if financially affordable) called EMOTIONAL DOGS || Dogs don’t Pray before the Feast and the proposed community-based creation project called H.U.M.A.N. || Here, Underdogs March At Night (40’ group piece and research), as part of my creative methodology and the need of connecting with and offering to each community that embraces this work. My creative process includes theoretical research, sketching, video-making, collaging, use of materials and, of course, movement exploration and improvisation. While formulating my research questions, aims and objectives and desired modes of translation, I use my skills and different mediums of materialization (bringing in materials, making drawings and collages, doing creative writing and mood boards, filming, photographing) to build up towards the movement material and physical identity I would want my performance to have. I am returning on Tuesday 20th December in Florence to continue my research at MAD under this renewed concept and meet again with the dancers that engaged wholeheartedly to this project in October, in order to plan how we can continue working together towards the creation of H.U.M.A.N. 20th December 2022-20th January 2022: In Florence, researching, documenting, exploring materials, filmmaking, formulating the framework within which I will work with the dancers.