Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie.
Loading

Dying on Stage

Executive produced by Centre Chorégraphique National de Caen en Normandie

Dying on Stage

Chris­to­doulos Panayi­otou has chosen the form of the per­formed lec­ture to deal with the ver­ti­gin­ous ques­tion of death’s rela­tion­ship to the stage. 

How can death be rep­res­en­ted on stage? Chris­to­doulos Panayiotou’s work attempts to answer this ques­tion which under­scores the his­tory of West­ern theatre through a piece which com­bines theatre, a lec­ture and a per­form­ance, archiv­al work and digress­ive intro­spec­tion, where a broad ref­er­en­tial net­work calls upon icons like Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dal­ida, Molière, Amy Wine­house, Michael Jack­son or Rudolf Nureyev.

Using a vari­ety of film and music­al mater­i­al, Panayi­otou ana­tom­izes the concept of tra­gic irony to delve into the enigma of the rela­tion between spec­tat­ors, act­ors and char­ac­ters. Evok­ing urgency, bliss, men­ace, desire, Chris­to­doulos Panayi­otou blurs the lines between high­brow and low­brow to con­front the audi­ence with the many faces of the inev­it­able. By examin­ing the bal­let La Bay­adère staged by Rudolf Nureyev as he was dying from AIDS, Dying on Stage com­poses a mosa­ic, a score where the artist inserts his own sub­jectiv­ity in the flow of the con­tem­por­ary images wash­ing over us – chal­len­ging con­ven­tions, pay­ing homage to the theatre.

+ More

Cast

Devised and per­formed by
Chris­to­doulos Panayiotou

With the par­ti­cip­a­tion of
Jean Capeille (Chapter 1)

Dur­a­tion
About 5h (2 chapters with an inter­mis­sion): the first chapter of 2h30 – break of approx­im­ately 30 min – second chapter of 2h. Present­a­tion of the pro­ject over a single day/evening.

Exec­ut­ive pro­duced by Centre Choré­graph­ique Nation­al de Caen en Normandie

Chris­to­doulos Panayi­otou is being rep­res­en­ted by the Kamel Men­nour Gal­lery and the Rodeo Gallery

French ver­sion and Eng­lish ver­sion of the per­form­ance avail­able by request.

Where and when

Tour

May 2024

Professional contacts

Cath­er­ine Meneret
+33 (0)6 86 86 65 27

History

March 2023

  • 11
    [POSTPONED] ccn de Caen en Normandie 3:00 pm
  • 18
  • 25
    Théâtre Le Pommier, Neuchâtel (Suisse) 8:30 pm
  • 26
    Théâtre Le Pommier, Neuchâtel (Suisse) 2:30 pm

November 2023

  • 12
    CCN Caen en Normandie 3:00 pm

Press

  • Les Inrocks

    « Une forme hybride, une lecture-performance illustrée d’une navigation en direct parmi les méandres de YouTube, afin d’embrasser toutes les occurrences de ce paradoxe suprême qu’est la mort sur scène. » Les Inrockuptibles, Supplément du Festival

  • Art Press

    « Inclassable, la performance Dying on Stage (Mourir sur scène) que Christodoulos Panayiotou réalise à trois reprises dans l’auditorium du musée d’Orsay, dans le cadre du Festival d’Automne, est aussi inattendue que sensible, éclairante et parfois hilarante. » Art Press

  • AOC

    « On en sort ému, traversé sourdement par un sentiment de gravité, compensé aussitôt par la consolante force de sublimation de l’art qui, en mettant en scène la mort, l’installe au centre de notre attention tout en la mettant à distance. » AOC

  • Ronan au Théâtre (2019)

    Full article