c o r p i l i q u i d i

U S E L E S S  C R E A T U R E S

photo by elena zhukova

link to Creation Blog 

video gallery

'Useless Creatures' explores the travesty of displaced species and the becoming of freaks. The work is inspired by asian flying carp, a non-native species introduced to the Mississippi River and Great Lakes which are now both an invasive environmental threat and tragic acrobatic spectacle. k i r s c h &  k e e n a n  dissect delicate relationships in disturbed eco systems and create an absurd journey of comical, monstrous and phenomenal survival attempts. 'Useless creatures' is an intimate and physicalized portrait of the unwanted and a fractured relationship that oscillates between hyper-harmony and awkward estrangement.

Catherine Marcus, philosopher and choreographer remarked after attending a showing of the work-in-progress: “The space is dynamic not because it moves but because it has a latent force . The game between gravity attraction and the "nonchalance" of the touch makes it very surreal and "pregnant". The stops feel like small suspensions into intimacy yet they are unbearable because we donʼt know what they prefigure” 

A landscape of phantom pain, touching the missing, missing the touching, fragility and failure, clumsiness and virtuosity. The humor and pain of meetings, miscommunication and delusions.

Creation of 1st work in progress title: ʻOn Flying and Cryingʼ began at the end of a teaching and performance tour in the summer 2010. We continued working on ʻOn Flying and Cryingʼ for 5 weeks in Montreal this winter and invited Philippe Lauzier to collaborate with us again. We terminated this working period by workshopping our ideas and material in Montreal Danseʼs Annual Choreographic Workshop. This workshop is facilitated by Kathy Casey, Philip Sporzer and Larry Lavender invites 4 choreographers to work with dancers in the context of an intensive week including conferences, studio time, showings and extensive conversations amongst all participants. It was an immensely helpful platform for us to germinate our creation ideas into a production.

Inspiring anecdote by kelly:
On september 4th 2003 while picking up garbage in the Mississippi river I was hit in the face by an Asian Flying Carp. I had to get 9 stitches and I was billed 2000 US dollars. The species were introduced to the eco system in the 1990ʼs to help manage imbalanced algae levels. As per usual a non-native species introduced to a foreign eco system becomes invasive, unstoppable and irreversible species/monsters. 20 years after the introduction of the species the US and Canada are still taking desperate measures to stop the carp from invading the great lakes. While my personal anecdote is rather funny it is in fact a consequence of an environmental tragedy. These Asian flying carp are metaphorical representations of many horrific happenings in the world. By displacing them from their natural habitat they were made into essentially helpless monsters accused of ruthless invasion.

S P E C I E S

photo: aleksey bochovsky

s p e c i e s  is a moving body exposition that makes a  scientific, sensual and social attempt to perplex our experience and understanding of the living body.   

s p e c i e s  maintains invisible typical identifying attributes and averts it to others-  namely those of the spine.  Subtle, supple and sublime, the spine is a binding common among all vertebrate species.  

s p e c i e s  volunteers two living bodies resistant to one identity  saturated in space and elongated in time.  Dwelling bodily matter constructs, deconstructs, and re-constructs into unrecognisable forms, impressions and sensations with illogical precision.  Unifying and distinguishing characteristics surface and relinquish - yours to meditate on, yours to experience.

Review by Dfdanse Le magazine de la danse actuelle

à Montréal

ARTISTS

concept, performance & stage design:

kira kirsch & kelly keenan

live music:

'SAINCT LAURENS'

Philippe Lauzier alto saxophone and bass clarinet

Pierre-Yves Martel prepared viola da gamba, 2" speaker

outside eyes:

keith hennessey

frey faust

PROCESS

1st Residency

2 weeks at Nomadic College in Czech Republic

--> 2 showings

2nd Residency

10 days Resident Artist Workshop at THE GARAGE in SF 

--> 2 performances - s p e c i e s  episode I

3rd Residency

Studio 303, Montreal Canada

--> 2 performances - s p e c i e s  episode II

INSPIRATION

The inspiration for ‘s p e c i e s’  has been abstracted from several sources amongst which include architecture and form, construction and deconstruction, the body, the spine and transformation to the creaturesque.  Inspiration was also taken from an article written by feminist and art theorist Elizabeth Grosz “Art as an Animal”.

CONCEPT:  ‘s p e c i e s’
The spine and bodies are common evolutionary attributes among species. “s p e c i e s” uses the spine and skeleton as architectural and geometrical forms as beginning and end to mutation of the body mass through articulation, precision and undulation into the creaturesque. Through the duration of time the body constructs, de-constructs and re-constructs into new forms, impressions and sensations. Slowness, duration, patience, articulacy and precision intensifies sensation, lending time and demanding of the perceiving/audience to witness transformation into new and unrecognizable forms. Throughout the duration of s p e c i e s the observer is propositioned to transform their experience and understanding of the human body (spine, joints, extremities, mass etc.) as the exposed bodies arrange themselves into perplexing displays of form and function. Logic to these seemingly illogical forms is demonstrated through articulate transitioning of the body. 

Kelly Keenan & Kira KirschKeenan & Kirsch Mission Statement

Keenan from Canada and Kirsch native to Germany have been working across borders for the entirety of their dance lives. The paths of these two nomadic dance artists collided in Brussels 2005. Today they are based in San Francisco and Montreal bridging the communities they encounter on home turf and abroad.

K&K share a potent history of grass root organizing, movement research and friendship. They have drawn influence from a variety of inspiring and provoking figures that have propelled them to identify their own fascination, meaningfulness and language in performance and teaching.
They are attracted to the capacities, somaticism and poetry of the human body to filter and reflect its experience of the world. K&Kʼs work addresses the happenings between the vast and the finite aiming to expand our perception and experience of the body. Coping with transience and the delicacy of relationships their choreographic language is infused with disorienting, intensifying, shape-shifting and perplexing sensibilities.
K&Kʼs vision is to enhance and optimize trans-border collaborations and efficient methods to share their visions via performance, co-teaching and community performance projects.

K+K History
Kira and Kelly work both independently and collaboratively. In 2009 they created their first full production ʻSpeciesʼ. ʻSpeciesʼ was created in residency at The Nomadic College, TheGarage (San Francisco) and Studio 303 with the kind support in the form of a production grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. ʻSpeciesʼ was presented at in Montreal at Studio 303, Off Festival Transameriques and abroad at The Garage (San Francisco), International Buenwerkstatt at the Orpheum in Graz (Austria) and at Dance Matters (Toronto).

Under K&K Dance Projects they also collaboratively teach workshops premised on their unique understanding of the Axis Syllabus. K&K have taught intensives in collaboration at the European Nomadic College annually 2007-2011, at the International Buehnwerkstatt, Studio 303, Transformation Danse, Earth Dance (us), Love-In Toronto Dance Community Classes, Tanzpool Vienna among others.