TRA/CEOLOGY (working title)

The term "traceology" comes from the words trace (trahere) and science or discourse (-logia), and therefore refers to the 'discourse' or 'science of traces'. It designates a scientific method used in prehistoric archaeology, that aims to determine an ancient tool's function by studying the traces left upon it, through observing its wear and tear, even at a microscopic level. What interests me in "traceology" is how this method relies on studying a series, a sequence of 'contacts' and therefore of 'touches': the contact between hand and object, object and matter, and consequently, the hand whose action transforms matter, thus testifying of human activity on the latter; but also, if we widen the field and change scale, on the environment. A science of traces or, as this project views it, a discourse of actions and gestures—here the interest is in the possible variation of nuances when executing the same movement, action or multiplicity of gestures, while also probing their effects on others and space, as well as the degree of dramatic intensity in the resulting dance.

The project will be sourced in a series of explorations that aim to question the phenomena of presence, condensation and layering in a given instant, as meteorological phenomena of an ecosystem that takes shape before our eyes. In the strength or fragility of bodies tracing the seismic fluctuations of shifting gestures, the dance will explore a resonance space inhabited and traversed, engaged in an approach that reflects on how choreography can reposition time as a constitutive force in our relationship to the world.  

It will explore a range of gestures and actions through a physical approach conceived as a kind of "excavation site" where one might identify, (re-)activate and transform movement in a quest to touch it, inhabit it and pass through it from within. Thus, the vestiges of gestures and movements will be approached as signs of disappearance to be activated; but also as traces that we will collect, classify or cite while delving into the material imprints that we see remaining. The project will dig the space between gesture and resonance like an active gap. It will play with the time between action and trace to capture the nature of the intermediate space. 

In the continuation of my research on movement and the exploration of subtexts as causes and vectors for physical action, this project is envisioned in a societal context of (post-)pandemic reality wherein our relationship to others has been "amputated" when it comes to the tactile dimension, which is nonetheless fundamental to physical work.

COMPLETE DOSSIER UPON REQUEST

concept and choreography Olga de Soto
performance (in progress) Jeanne Colin, Kevin Fay, Agathe Thévénot and 2 performers
production manager Pauline Barascou

production Niels Production
production supports / coproduction (in progress) : CCN de Caen en Normandie, direction Alban Richard, Mille Plateaux – CCN La Rochelle, dans le cadre du dispositif de l’accueil-studio, Charleroi danse, ICI – Centre chorégraphique national Montpellier Occitanie / Direction Christian Rizzo, dans le cadre de l’accueil-studio, La Place de la danse - CDCN Toulouse/ Occitanie, in the frame of accueil-studio… (in progress)

residencies / supports (in progress) Pianofabriek (Brussels), Charleroi danse, KANAL – Centre Pompidou (Brussels), Materiais diversos, in collaboration with OPART – E.P.E / Estúdios Victor Córdon (Lisbon), Mille Plateaux - CCN La Rochelle, ICI – CCN Montpellier Occitanie (Montpellier) La place de la danse - CDCN Toulouse, Montpellier danse… (in progress)

with the support of Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Service de la danse (BE), Grand Studio (Brussels), OPART/Organismo de Producção Artística – E.P.E / Estúdios Victor Córdon / Teatro Nacional de São Carlos et Companhia Nacional de Bailado (Lisbon)… (in progress)

We are looking for coproducers and residency partners.
Feel free to contact us for more information.

Production Contact
Pauline Barascou
La Table Verte Productions
direction@latableverte-productions.fr
+33 (0)6 26 78 04 98