Sasha Amaya

Solo for Boy

World Premiere 2024

CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY Sasha Amaya
PERFORMANCE Félix Deepen, Sasha Amaya
SCENOGRAPHY + PROPS Sasha Amaya
SOUND Alexander Iezzi
LIGHT Hanna Kritten Tangsoo
COSTUME Sasha Amaya, Judith Förster

‘“Men” are both a social structure and individuals that are a part of my life… It is therefore hard to confront directly. All forms of art are really important spaces that can produce a little gap between these roles, where we can ask: “What is this exactly? What is this structure? What is this feeling?” …what I was really interested in was this body that is allowed very different things than my own.’’

• Sasha Amaya in interview, Berlin Art Link

‘‘This thought-provoking piece challenges the enduring dominance of the white, able-bodied male form and the societal constructs associated with it.’’

• KALTBLUT

Solo for Boy is an inquiry into forms of white, western, male-bodied Eurocentric beauty. In her new work, Sasha Amaya is inspired by a lineage of images from art history and fashion from the early 1800s to the present moment. What kind of movements does this body make? What kind of forms does it take? What kind of access to space and permission for our time do we give this form? And where in all of this do we situate ourselves in terms of power, vulnerability, and desire?

Solo for Boy is part of a trilogy of three works ‘On Form and Fiction,’ including Sarabande (2020) and Orfeo (upcoming) exploring, interrogating, and reimagining dominant narratives in art history.

‘‘In Solo for Boy, Amaya interweaves different aspects of an imaginary of gestures associated with masculinity: sacred, profane, sweet, and violent. Mixing references to pop culture and art history in a non-hierarchical way, Amaya turns her gaze toward boyhood to question the Western canon of desire.’’

• Lorena Juan, Curator, Transmediale & Biennale für Freiburg

„Solo for Boy" ist eine Befragung von Formen weißer, westlicher, männlicher, eurozentristischer Schönheit. In ihrer neuen Arbeit lässt sich Sasha Amaya von Bildtraditionen aus der Kunstgeschichte und Mode von 1800 bis zur Gegenwart inspirieren. Welche Art von Bewegungen macht dieser Körper? Welche Art von Formen nimmt er an? Wieviel Raum und Aufmerksamkeit gewähren wir auch heute noch der Vorherrschaft von weißer, männlicher Ästhetik? Und wo verorten wir uns in all dem in Bezug auf Macht, Verletzlichkeit und Begehren?

„Solo for Boy" ist Teil einer Trilogie „On Form and Fiction"; 2020 wurde „Sarabande" uraufgeführt und die Premiere von „Orfeo" ist für die nahe Zukunft geplant. Die drei Werke erforschen, hinterfragen und interpretieren die dominante Kunstgeschichte neu.

‘‘An essential aspect of “Solo for Boy”, [is] this odd mix of both relatability and alienation: in as much as we respond to the presented stereotypes, we are also kept in check by the portrayed puppetry, the inhumanity that seems to be part and parcel of every posing action.

A very expertly choreographed facial sequencing of stereotypical “male moodscapes”, highlighted by their decontextualised presentation [are] like pearls on a string... The “boy” might appear funny and laughable in his earnestness, but it is exactly this mindless determination combined with physical strength which can become deadly for many people outside the theatre, in real life.’’

• Lea Pischke, Stream

‘‘And while prevailing discourses today are anything but utopian, they do share its penchant for sharply demarcated boundaries, clear moral paradigms and a delineation of cause and effect. This is what Amaya avoids…

Amaya’s answer can be found in the demonstrations of movement with which she confronts me. Their simultaneous familiarity and seductive strangeness live out the contradictions central to the creative process.’’

• Dagmara Genda, Berlin Art Link

FULL CREDITS

CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY Sasha Amaya
PERFORMANCE Félix Deepen, Sasha Amaya
SCENOGRAPHY + PROPS Sasha Amaya
SOUND Alexander Iezzi
LIGHT Hanna Kritten Tangsoo
COSTUME Sasha Amaya, Judith Förster
TAILORING à la mode

TEXT Sasha Amaya
PHOTO Peter Oliver Wolff
PHOTO COLLAGES Sasha Amaya
GRAPHICS: POSTER + FLYER Eps51
GRAPHICS: DIGITAL + PROGRAMME Sasha Amaya / curious

PRODUCTION + ADMINISTRATION + CARE Elisabeth Leopold, Sasha Amaya
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE Maria Kousi, Saskia Schoenmaker
SOCIAL MEDIA Apricot Productions

ARTIST TALK MODERATION Lorena Juan
POST-SHOW CARTOGRAPHY FORMAT Theater Scoutings

DOCUMENTATION: PHOTO Dieter Hartwig, Peter Oliver Wolff
DOCUMENTATION: VIDEO Tanzforum, Dietheld Meier, Ethan Folk

Premiere 2024
DOCK 11, Berlin

Funded by the Berlin Senatasverwaltung, with support from Tanzhaus Zürich, le centre national de la danse CN D Lyon, and Tanzfabrik Berlin, and in co-production with DOCK ART.

Gefördert durch die Berliner Senatsverwaltung, mit Unterstützung des Tanzhauses Zürich, des Centre National de la Danse CN D Lyon und der Tanzfabrik Berlin, in Koproduktion mit DOCK ART.