Hopecraft Ceremony
Scenography for dance performance by Natasza Gerlach

Somewhere between science fiction and reality, Hopecraft Ceremony seeks to immerse the audience in a utopian laboratory where survival is but a fleeting state. In a suffocating landscape, the performers wander in search of new connection strategies. Hopecraft Ceremony sees breathing as an act of sharing and explores its relational aspect as a condition for coexistence. In a hypnotic choreography, the performers oscillate between hope and abandonment, between breath of life and nostalgia. Each one lives in each other’s personal space. A relationship of interdependence collapses and renews itself constantly, creating a sensual reflection on vulnerability. Like a love poem in response to our time’s all encompassing mourning, Hopecraft Ceremony aspires to livable futures of solidarity.

Concept, direction: Natasza Gerlach
Performing artists: Elie Autin, Natasza Gerlach, Rafał Pierzyński, Pierre Piton, Juliette Uzor
Scenography: Ula Lucińska & Michał Knychaus (Inside Job)
Costumes & make up: Chaïm Vischel
Sound: Natasza Gerlach, Thibault Villard
Light: Jacqueline Sobiszewski
Technical director: Thibault Villard
Special thanks: Jule Flierl

more at:
Arsenic – Centre d’art scénique contemporain

Choreography view:
Hopecraft Ceremony
directed by: Natasza Gerlach
Arsenic – Centre d’art scénique contemporain, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2024
photos: courtesy of Inside Job & Arsenic – Centre d’art scénique contemporain