CRA’P Resident January 2023 to December 2023
DANCE PLAGUE
Based on a historical fact, the Dance Plague lived in Strasburg in 1518 , Zoe Balasch starts an investigation on Choreomanias/dancemanias. She is interested in the unstoppable impulse to dance, its epidemic dimension, as well as its contamination and dissemination on a group and on a collective scale. When and how it appears, in what historical moments, social contexts, how it travels through different bodies and the geography of the planet.
Choreomania is a word created from choreo (dance) and mania (euphoria and psychomotor agitation). The history of this concept has evolved to address broader social problems taking on a dimension of political agitation. When we lived the Covid-19 pandemic, dancing and certain relationship and contact practices with others were restricted. All this leads Zoe to investigate and implement different devices to deepen to dancemania. Scenic creation, video documentation and participatory meetings will unfold along this journey.
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.