Prosopon

Prosopon is a long-term research project that includes sessions that investigates the movements that arise in a solitary versus a collective body. Engaging performers from across dance, theatre and mime for each session the research also includes workshops by invited artists and talks/lectures on topics related to the notion of persona/face/mask.
Prosopon is the Ancient Greek word for face/mask. The idea of prosopon was rehabilitated by Christians in the first century AD. We find, for example, the use of “prosopon” in the Septaguint, especially in the Psalms where it is used to denote God’s Face. The act of prosopon in this context is the unveiling of God’s face.
In the first part of the century, it was the simple power of the mask to come alive that caused wonder in Athenians, and we see this mystery played out in the ceremony of the masked and bearded idol. By the end of the century it was the ability of the mask to turn male into female that seemed its most conspicuous feature, and the androgynous conception of Dionysos meshed with that power.

Iraqi Bodies

The work of Iraqi Bodies explores the link between movement and gesture, between dance and physical theater. The development of their artistic practice has been deeply influenced by the likes of Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski, Jacques Copeau and Tatsumi Hijikata while retaining a constant dialogue with thinkers, writers and poets such as Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Charles Baudelaire, Le Comte de Lautréamont, William Shakespeare, Henri Bergson, Krishnamurti and many others.

The poetics of awareness is an absolute given in their continued search for a radical scenic language.

Iraqi Bodies are based in Gothenburg, Sweden, led by Artistic Directors Anmar Taha and Josephine Gray.

Their work has been presented at:
Dansens Hus, Pustervik, Atalante, Inkonst,Teater Trixter, Stora Teatern, Göteborgs Stadsteater, GBG Mime Fest, SPIRA, Regionteater Väst, Göteborgs Dans -och Teater festival, Aerowaves, Kalamata Dance Festival, Dance Days Chania, BITEF, Costante Cambiamento Festival, Fadjr International Theatre Festival, Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival, Carthage Puppet Theatre Days, Carthage Theatre Festival, Tanztendenzen, BOZAR, Tunnelhuis Antwerpen, Monty Antwerpen, Nitra International Theatre Festival and more.

Read more about Iraqi Bodies