“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our show! We’ll all be freefalling into the future…” This is how Patricia Apergi welcomes us into the universe of her new work, which takes us on a journey through time to throw a welcome party for the future using the most explosive materials that the past has to offer.
THE HOUSE OF TROUBLE is inspired by dance forms that emerged “out there,” and “from the grass roots up” – by street dance styles that sprang up from the 1980s into the 2000s as acts of public resistance and socio-political protest in the face of violence and humiliations never brought to justice. These dance paeans bring us to self-determination and its jubilatory acceptance. A party celebrating the joy that surrounds the transformation and heterogeneity of bodies – one that incorporates all the reactions that make one thing clear to us all: we can always enjoy ourselves, even if we’re different.
As Apergi herself notes: “We’re all having a hard time. But we can also sense that – in this shaken, teetering world – joy is to be found in those short breaks between battles.” And so, the stage will be transformed into a catwalk for the seven performers-personas who star in THE HOUSE OF TROUBLE, and steeped in the poetics of club culture and contemporary dance.
Commissioned and produced by Onassis Stegi Athens (GR). Co-produced by Le Gymnase–CDCN Roubaix Hauts-de-France (FR) and La rose des vents – scène nationale Lille métropole Villeneuve d’Ascq (FR). Touring is supported by Onassis Stegi’s “Outward Turn” Cultural Export Program.
Premiere on 4 May 2023 at Onassis Stegi Athens (GR).