CRA’P resident January to December 2024
UNCLASSIFIABLE CORPOGRAPHIES
Zoe Balasch revises and extends her research “Epidemic of Dance”, on which she has been working since 2022, with the research “Unclassifiable Corpographies”. This research has its roots in medieval dance epidemics, drawing on medical texts from the period and the 19th century, as well as on anti-psychiatric authors and contemporary texts dealing with choreomania.
“Unclassifiable Corpographies” unfolds in three dimensions: research, the creation of a dance solo, and the activation of a methodology based on contextual participatory practices, opening up processes and results in diverse formats. One of the reasons for continuing and intensifying this research is the theme of choreomania, the madness of dance, which proves to be innovative in the field of creation and calls for an in-depth study in seeking to understand the possibilities that arise in the codes of dance and the arts of movement.
“Unclassifiable Corpographies” explores how to readdress choreomania in the contemporary context from a critical perspective, with the aim of creating new aesthetics and narratives in dance and the living arts, challenging notions of normality and physical beauty.
The project “Epidemic of Dance” has received in 2023 the support of a grant for creation of Generalitat de Catalunya.
Zoe Balasch participates in scenic and collaborative contexts where body, dance and performance art are the backbone to create new narratives around issues that concern her. Her creations include solo and group performances with versatile projects that lean towards “site-specific” creation rather indoor/outdoor and in rural/urban environments resulting in dance/performance pieces, choreographies in the landscape, participatory actions and performative walks with a singular language that fluctuates through a wide spectrum of creative forms.
She continually formulates and questions the language of dance, movement and bodies and their exhibition contexts, presenting her works at national and international festivals, art galleries, centers of creation and universities in Catalonia, Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia, Thailand, Denmark, France, Portugal and Germany.