Dark Dynamite

Photo: Iselin Linstad Hauge

Dark Dynamite

The body harbors a reserve of dynamite. Lurking under the skin, the destructive forces are existence itself, dissolving identity instead of solidifying it. The body’s capacity to undergo metamorphosis is part of our biology, and we celebrate its ability to change. Change is often seen as something positive, a progression, a step forward. But the capacity for progress comes at a price: it is often counterbalanced by a form of destruction. This does not contradict life - it makes life possible.

Dark Dynamite is a choreography for one dancer amongst several sculptural bodies. The work has been shaped by those dark forces that inherently shape our bodies, accelerate or slow them down, such as fatigue, lethargy, apathy, restlessness, negligence, despair, or looseness. These forces are challenging and have the potential to undo us at any given moment. It is the side of life many wish to suppress. As an attempt to separate these dark forces from everyday life, they are pathologized and treated as medical diagnoses although this reserve of darkness is nothing less than life itself. The more the vulnerable sides of life are medicalized, the more our sense of normalcy shrinks in turn. By letting life's worn and unbridled sides unfold, the choreography points to the idea that parts of life are self-forming matters beyond control, and its dark forces are inevitable game players.

Dark Dynamite premiered October 20th 2022 at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter in Norway.