Dovydas Strimaitis – Still Waiting
HAIRY (excerpt)
Hairy is a choreographic piece for 3 dancers and their hair.
Hair is one of the few parts of the human body that one cannot move voluntarily and directly. Choreography and dance, on the other hand, can be seen as an art of physical (self-)control. Choreographing hair, thus, carries in itself a dramatic tension – how to control the uncontrollable. This tension is the starting point of Hairy.
Because of its uncontrollable nature, hair can be seen as an entity separate from our body, yet dependent on it. Hair is a boundary, limit both separating us from and connecting us to what is physically outside of us. A choreography made for hair thus raises ontological questions about our identity, our body and its autonomy.
Loose long hair has strong symbolic meaning in the Western society. It invokes freedom, romanticism, naturalness, and liberation from tradition or oppression. Strimaitis uses all these symbols as a formalist tool in order to develop counterpoints not only in timing and space, but also in meaning.
Warning This performance contains strobe lighting effects for a duration of 2 minutes.
Duration 37 minutes
Concept Dovydas Strimaitis
Choreography Dovydas Strimaitis with the dancers
Performance Line Losfelt Branchereau, Hanna-May Porlon, Dovydas Strimaitis
Lights Lisa M. Barry
Music original composition by Julijona Biveinytė, Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 played by Yo-Yo Ma, Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 played by Jean-Guihen Queyras
Technical director on tour Povilas Laurinaitis
Production Alix Ruyant for Still Waiting
Premiere 30.4.2024, New Baltic Dance festival
Pictures Dmitrij Matvejev
Co-produced by Théâtre de la Ville; New Baltic Dance Festival; Montpellier Danse as part of residency at the Agora, cité internationale de la danse, with the support of the Fondation BNP Paribas; NEUFNEUF (together with a residency at RING – scène périphérique).
In collaboration with AMAT for RAM.
Supported by Tanzhaus Zürich; La SPEDIDAM, société de perception et de distribution qui gère les droits des artistes interprètes en matière d’enregistrement, de diffusion et de réutilisation des prestations enregistrées; l’ADAMI.
With the support of Caisse des Dépôts and Ville de Marseille-Direction de la culture.
DOVYDAS STRIMAITIS is a Lithuanian contemporary dance artist, living and working between France and Belgium. At the age of 12, Strimaitis started training in various dance styles, including line dancing, show dance, and eventually contemporary dance. In 2015, he enrolled in a dance bachelor’s degree program at Codarts (NL). Strimaitis graduated from university in 2019, after completing his internship year with Jitti Chompee, Jan Martens, and Marina Mascarell. From 2019 to 2022, Strimaitis was a dancer at The National Ballet of Marseille, under the direction of La Horde. From 2022, he is a freelance dancer.
Strimaitis works are marked by rigorous structures, minimalist vocabulary that is nevertheless physically demanding, and detailed musicality. While often they are not narrative-driven, his works present a contradicting story through the analysis of historical and contemporary issues in dance, art, and their political reverberations.
Lithuanian dance performances are part of the cultural programme Lithuanian Culture in Tampere 2025, which aims to showcase Lithuania’s contemporary artistic achievements.
