«Blast!»
Explosive embodiment of emotions
Swiss Dance Production Award 2022
Following on from 2019’s fantasia, Blast! is another solo piece from Ruth Childs, based on her observations of how humans express themselves – a study, a panorama focusing on the painful, suffering, emotional and violent body. In a dialogue with Stéphane Vecchione’s percussive sound design, Childs stirs the audience with portrayals of bodies that make her fearful and are marked by suffering. Body, sound, space and music meld into a cycle of grimaces, tones and text that juxtapose a meditative aspect with the explosive force. Childs was inspired and amused by the different meanings of the word “blast”: as well as meaning an explosion, it can also be used as a swearword, and “having a blast” means having fun. Blast! premiered at the Pavillon ADC as part of the La Bâtie festival in Geneva last year and has since toured the French-speaking zone. It has also appeared at the FIT in Lugano and ImPulsTanz (the Vienna International Dance Festival).
Choreography/Performance: Ruth Childs
Technical direction and light design: Joana Oliveira
Sound design and research: Stéphane Vecchione
Artistic Collaborator: Bryan Campbell
Costumes: Coco Petitpierre
Costume production : Anne Tesson, Coralie Chauvin
Outside eye: Cécile Bouffard
Coaching: Michèle Gurtner
Production: Scarlett’s
Delegated production, touring: Tutu Production, Lise Leclerc & Cécilia Lubrano
Coproduction: Pavillon ADC-Geneva, La Bâtie Festival, Geneva, Arsenic, Lausanne Atelier de Paris CDCN, Paris, CCN de Tours/ Thomas Lebrun (residency), CCN de Rillieux-la-Pape, A-CDCN (Les Hivernales – CDCN d’Avignon, La Manufacture – CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux· La Rochelle, L’échangeur – CDCN Hauts-de-France, Le Dancing CDCN Dijon Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Chorège CDCN, Le Pacifique – CDCN Grenoble – Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes, Touka Danses – CDCN Guyane, Atelier de Paris / CDCN, Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix – Hauts-de-France, POLE-SUD CDCN / Strasbourg, La Place de la Danse – CDCN Toulouse / Occitanie, La Maison CDCN Uzès Gard Occitanie, La Briqueterie CDCN du Val-de-Marne)
Residency: Lo Studio – performing arts centre – Arbedo- Castione/Bellinzona – Switzerland
Financial support: Pro Helvetia Swiss foundation for Culture, Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation