It starts with a hand—a fist, clenching, pulsing as a heartbeat. Sinews and muscles are taut, the arm outstretched. The hand gives, but can also take away. The hand strikes, punches, slaps, caresses, pulls. So, too, the hand crowns kings and queens. This is the jumping-off point for French dancer Solène Weinachter's incredible new solo performance, “Antigone, Interrupted.” Human fragility is, Weinachter suggests, one side of the same coin, where strength is another. It is both meditation on Antigone, princess of Thebes and doomed daughter of Oedipus, from a feminist perspective; and also a personal journey between Weinachter and director and co-choreographer, Joan Clevillé. It's the first time that Clevillé, Scottish Dance Theatre's new artistic director, has created solo work for Weinachter, and their signature collaborative moves are all over the production, integrating text, dance and live vocals. It's also a nod to where we are now, in an uncertain post-Brexit political landscape, where fear and divisive ideologies are on the rise.
Performance
Place
Words

Solène Weinachter in Scottish Dance Theatre's “Antigone, Interrupted.” Photograph by Maria Falconer


subscribe to continue reading
Starting at $49.99/year
- Unlimited access to 1000+ articles
- Weekly writing that inspires and provokes thought
- Understanding the artform on a deeper level
Already a paid subscriber? Login
Featured
Teenage Angst and Institutions
Watching Matthew Bourne's reworked version of the “star-cross'd lovers,” I was briefly reminded of Veronica, played by Winona Ryder, in the dark 1988 comedy by Daniel Waters and Michael Lehmann, Heathers,...
Continue ReadingSparkles, Scraps and Spandex
Overheard after the curtain drop on “Theme and Variations,” the opener of English National Ballet’s latest mixed bill: “Well, it was very Balanchine!”
Continue Reading
comments