Transverse Orientation
"Transverse Orientation" guides us toward a source of light, providing the trigger to find balance and avoid getting lost. The set comprises a simple wooden platform and an off-white wall with a small door, creating a clear, minimalist space where a single neon tube hangs and seems to speak. Though minimalistic, this white-walled set serves as a malleable playground to create entire worlds and manifest myths.
A peculiar universe invades the calm picture: eight large dark figures, resembling ink sketches, seem to float or bump against the huge wall. The use of perspective, light, and shadow, along with the contrast between the performers' white skin and the black costumes they constantly change, creates mesmerizing optical illusions. Sculptural bodies appear to float, transform into impossible creatures, or evoke the origin story where male and female began as two parts of the same
A black bull remains on the scene throughout, acting as a reassuring totem watching the characters struggle in a hostile environment. Sometimes diminished, sometimes glorified in fleeting victory, the bull symbolizes resilience. Vivaldi's music serves as a common thread, enhancing the narrative.
One scene features a woman digging into the ground, sinking into the sea until she disappears.
In the final scene, the stage reveals a new universe hidden in its bowels. The wooden floor cracks open, transforming into a rocky embankment with glistening wet stones, suggesting the woman's continued presence in the elements, symbolizing regeneration.
Every moment onstage is like witnessing a painting in motion. One tableau follows another, free of a narrative link. References, symbols, myths. Hints, traces, and jokes.
Title Transverse Orientation
Program Set Design
Premiere Biennale de la Danse de Lyon ,Théâtre National Populaire (TNP)
Date 2 June 2021
World Tour 2021-2022
Concept - Direction Dimitris Papaioannou
Set Design Tina Tzoka & Loukas Bakas
Sculptures + Special Constructions - Props Nectarios Dionysatos
Mechanical Inventions Dimitris Korres
Assistant to the Set Designers Tzela Christopoulou
Special Constructions - Props Assistant Eva Tsambasi
Technical Director Manolis Vitsaxakis
Assistant to the Technical Director Marios Karaolis
Stage Manager – Sound Engineer + Props Constructions David Blouin
Props Master Tzela Christopoulou
Silicone Baby made by Joanna Bobrzynska-Gomes
Props Team Natalia Fragkathoula, Marilena Kalaitzantonaki, Timothy Laskaratos, Anastasis Meletis, Antonis Vassilakis
Photography + Cinematography Julian Mommert
Production ONASSIS STEGI
Co-Produced by Festival d'Avignon, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2021, Dance Umbrella / Sadler's Wells Theatre, Fondazione Campania dei Festival - Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, Grec Festival de Barcelona, Holland Festival – Amsterdam, Luminato (Toronto) / TO Live, New Vision Arts Festival (Hong Kong), Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Saitama Arts Theatre / ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Stanford Live / Stanford University, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris / Théatre du Châtelet, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance
With the support of Festival Aperto (Reggio Emilia), Festival de Otoño de la Comunidad de Madrid, HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), New Baltic Dance Festival, ONE DANCE WEEK Festival, P.P. Culture Enterprises Ltd, TANEC PRAHA International Dance Festival, Teatro della Pergola – Firenze, Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale