Residency Laura Kirshenbaum at STUK Leuven

The Creative Crossroad artist Laura Kirshenbaum, selected by ICI-CCN de Montpellier, was selected to work on her latest project "H.A.N.D.S."

Laura Kirshenbaum is a french-israeli choreographer, she was EXERCE MA and graduated in 2017. She is based in Montpellier and sharing her time between the developpement of her work in France, Israël, Sweeden and Belgium, and activelly participating to the Montpellier artistic scene. 

In the frame of Creative Crossroads, she is supported by ICI-CCN de Montpellier, STUK House for Dance, Image and Sound (Leuven, Belgium), 4Culture (Bucarest, Romania) and Tala Dance Center (Zagreb).

During this first cycle of Creative Crossroad, Laura Kirshenbaum has developped the second part of the H.A.N.D.S. project’s "No Hard Feelings" (creation november 2020). 

She had a creation residency in STUK (Leuven, Belgium) from July the 30th to August the 10th, 2019, then a creation residency in studio Yano at ICI-CCN de Montpellier (France) from September the 23rd to October the 6th, 2019:

"We welcomed Laura and her collaborator Nitsan Margaliot for a residency in STUK Labozaal. They worked here in STUK on their new dance performance No hard feelings(working title). No Hard Feelingsis a solo work, part of an extended physical research entitledthe H.A.N.D.

Laura’s physical research explores the virtuosity of the hand as a complex system of signs, symbols and an everyday gestural producer and communication transmitter, the diverse hand gestures she embodies shape the body’s movement, its attitude and voice manners.

Laura is interested in exploring a variety of situations where multiple happenings take place:

A correlation between gesture, voice and action;  a discorrelation between the three and the gap that is being created between the two distinct modes of being.

A call for an uncanny, dense environment in which meaning and meaningless, reality and dream, recognisable and ambiguous are being woven into one another.

No Hard Feelingsis a conceptual continuation of her previous solo WORD! Je te donne ma parole(2018) , in which the index finger was the center of attention. The solo was invited to perform in Meeting festival in Israel, STOFF fringe festival in Stockholm and Magdalena in Montpellier.

During her residency here at STUK, Laura was able to meet with Barbara Baert, a professor of iconography at the KULeuven, a partner of STUK. This allowed her to further discuss her research of hand gestures in a historical and academic context. 

Laura and Nitsan worked in our Labozaal, as agreed we provided technical assistance, lodgings in our apartment, travels and a residency fee." STUK Leuven

She presented her solo Words, first part of the H.A.N.D.S project’s, was presented with the support of ICI-CCN of Montpellier within the Creative Crossroad, in the frame of the Magdalena festival, in Montpellier on October the 12d, 2019. 

ICI-CCN is also providing her an administrative support for the all cycle in order to help the company structure itself. 

View her experience reports of her residencies in the upper right column.