The Forrest of Mirrors

Endangered Human Movement Vol.3

Video Works

This film documents the first take of the third volume of the project Endangered Human Movements, which investigates Amerindian ontologies, cosmologies, mythologies, iconography, magic and ritual art. During 2017, this research unfolds in different formats and constellations.

Inspired by hybrid beings that populate Amerindian oral and visual imagery, the first edition of this 3rd volume entitled The Forest of Mirrors is an attempt at creating an affective, experiential bridge between ancestral indigenous knowledge, contemporary performance and posthumanist thought.
The performance explores the way concepts such as “Human” and “Identity” are understood in Amerindian terms. “Human”, applying to all beings as an inner and stable form of self-consciousness, and “Identity” being understood as an unstable category, determined by the shape and attributes of the body and by its ability to transform. Between the forgotten and the still unknown, two performers — Amanda Piña and Linda Samaraweerová — work on challenging the relationship between animal, vegetal and human, friend and enemy, foreign and known.

Endangered Human Movements is a long-term project developed by nadaproductions and the Austrian Ministry of Movement Affairs, which deals with ancestral movement practices and their translation into a contemporary planetary culture. Endangered Human Movements already comprises the performance and publication Four Remarks on the History of Dance – Endangered Human Movements Vol. 1, as well as the performance Dance and Resistance – Endangered Human Movements Vol. 2.

Credits

CONCEPT + CHOREOGRAPHY + ARTISTIC DIRECTION: Amanda Piña
DIRECTION + AUDIOVISUAL CONCEPT: Daniel Zimmermann
PERFORMANCE + CHOREOGRAPHY: Linda Samaraweerová, Amanda Piña
COSTUME + STAGE DESIGN: Lise Lendais
MUSIC: Christian Müller
SONG: Daniel Zimmermann – For as long as I lived
LIGHT: Victor Duran
DRAMATURGICAL ADVICE: Angela Vadori
CHOREOGRAPHIC ASSISTANT: Paula Chaves
STAGE MECHANISM: Victor Duran, Christoph Freidhöfer
SOUND SUPPORT: Gustavo Petek
RESEARCH TEAM: Angela Vadori, Amanda Piña, Marie-Christine Baratta
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Sarah Blumenfeld
EDITING + MANAGEMENT CONSULTING: Marie-Christine Baratta
PRODUCTION: nadaproductions.at
COPRODUCTION: EN-KNAP productions – Ljubljana, STUK Leuven, Tanzquartier Wien
COOPERATION: Hellerau – Europäisches Zentrum der Künste, and nadaLokal Wien, Österreichisches Kulturforum Mexiko
SUPPORT: Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien (MA7), Bundeskanzleramt Kunst und Kultur
The Forest of Mirrors is a production by nadaproductions, co-produced by EN-KNAP Productions, Ljubljana, and Tanzquartier Wien in cooperation with Hellerau – European Centre for the Arts, STUK Leuven and nadaLokal Wien, and is supported by the Culture Department of the City of Vienna. The project Endangered Human Movements Vol. 3 is also realized in cooperation with deSingel, Antwerp, and Impulstanz – Vienna International Dance Festival.
THANKS TO: Rosa Marie Castro Valle und Gustavo Torres (Mexikanische Botschaft in Wien), Gabrielle Cram, Georg Grünberg, Eleno Guzman (Centro de Producción de Danza Contemporánea CEPRODAC), Jack Hauser, Wolf Lamsa, Carmen Mehnert, Johannes Neurath (Museo Nacional de Antropología – Inah), Cuauhtémoc Nájera (Coordination Nacional de Danza de Mexiko), Yasamin Nikseresht, Alma Quintana, Suehay Romo und Oleg Soulimenko