We were better in the future. A retrospective by Kat Válastur

About

Fragmentation, time lapse, entropy, and virtuality are some of the notions that emerge from her dance works. Highly intense atmospheres are created, challenging the senses and the rules of ordinary perception. The works emerge out of a fictional condition, where the narrative is part of the process either relating to a post-apocalyptic environment or to science-fiction existentialism in the era of the Anthropocene.

With OILinity, Válastur tackles the dependence of western societies on mineral oil. Three dancers are wandering through a landscape animated by petroleum and full of surreal obstacles. The audience is confronted with a dance work that reveals both the hidden traits of humans as well as those of petroleum, finding a vocabulary of movement in which forces and speeds culminate in the crude beauty of dripping oil.

In her solo GLAND, the body wanders through unknown landscapes in which a series of events is experienced in parallel universes, shifting from familiarity to the unfamiliar. With her own particular virtuosity, Válastur presents new challenges to habitual perception over and over again.

Inspired by the idea of native rites, Ah! Oh! A contemporary Ritual reflects on the origins and traditions of circle dances. In a post-apocalyptic atmosphere six performers recall the memory of dancing together by holding hands.

Specially for this retrospective, Kat Válastur reworked her work lang giving it a new perspective. Focusing on the perpetual expansion of the body in time, the dancers move in a circular way, not following the linear movement of physical time, which is imposed by walking.

Besides the performances, HAU will host several videos, installations, as well as sculptures designed specially for this frame. The retrospective finishes with an epilogue in the shape of a new short solo – Kat Válastur was better in the future.