Residency Ofelia Jarl Ortega at STUK Leuven

In the frame of the Creative Crossroad activity, Ofelia Jarl Ortega was selected by MDT Stockholm to receive a 2 years structural support by the LLB network, to work amongst others on her latest production "StM".

The 2 years structural support includes a co-production share as well as a residency in September 2020 at STUK Leuven, a teaching experience and research opportunity in Budapest with Workshop Foundation, a Performance Situation Room attendance offered by Uferstudios Berlin as well as a performance presentation at MDT Stockholm.
Further her performance "Shredder" was presented within the network.

About "StM":
In StM the border between performer and spectator is not a divide but an opening. Here the borderland is a place to talk about the evasive. It is a space that pulses, yields and gives the spectator’s gaze a body.

StM is a solo and the latest piece in a series where Ofelia Jarl Ortega examines the dramaturgy of the gaze as choreographic material, where the dancer’s voluntary objectification questions the participation of the observer. In StM she approaches the topic from the singular body, and confirms the gaze’s potential as a tool of power.

About "Shredder":
Shredder by Ofelia Jarl Ortega together with composer Patrik Patsy Lassbo and dancer Alexandra Tveit, is a staged exploration of voluntary objectification as a subversive weapon in a hypersexualised world.

Shredder is a performance where power and desire produce a potent, alluring and at the same time unpleasant atmosphere. Suggestive glances and erotic undertones create a space for three bodies, surrounded by pulsating light and music, to orient themselves in the concept of post porn.

Through her interest in the conditions for productions of desire and eroticism in contemporary society, Ofelia Jarl Ortega invites a broadened understanding of pleasure.

Choreography, dance, concept, idea: Ofelia Jarl Ortega. Music, light, concept: Patrik Patsy Lassbo. Dance, choreography, concept: Alexandra Tveit. Producer: Sara Bergsmark & Alexandra Olsson. Produced through MDT. Co-production: Black Box teater (Oslo). Supported by: Stockholm Stad, Santarcangelo dei Teatri, Konstnärsnämnden, Norsk Kulturråd. A part of the project [DNA] Departures and Arrivals.

Teaching Residency in Budapest:
In the framework of the Creative Crossroads program, Ofelia Jarl Ortega took part in a teaching experience and research opportunity at Workshop Foundation Budapest between 4-9. November 2019.

During her stay she has been working with a varying group of local artists (six artists in total), with whom she has been researching practices connected to the topic of the gaze, femininity and vulnerability. The workshops went well, creating a great atmosphere between the artists. Both Ofelia and her company appreciated each other and the opportunity.

The experiences of the five workshop days were then shared at an open presentation on the 9th of November, where Ofelia and two artists from the group presented those practices, techniques and the results of the sessions, and the audience could also join in to one of the practices/exercising. The other artists from the group could not be present because of illness, travelling and other performances.
There were only 7 audience members due to the late advertising and the busy weekend filled with other dance performances. The advertising could not start before that exact week as the artists decided together along the way about the possibility of a public presentation. The sharing was closed with an exciting talk between the artists and the audience.

View her experience report in the upper right column.