S/M

S/M is a dance performance about decision making processes and negotiation.

A collaboration between dance artists Claire Lefèvre and Evandro Pedroni, this duet originates in the movement research exploration which we undertook in the last two years. Working mainly with instant composition, we are questioning what mechanisms are involved in the decision making processes of creative work, both as a choreographer and a performer.

Drawing from Evandro's embodied experience of our improvisation scores as well as from Claire's theoretical research on topics such as authority and power, we are also inquiring the impact that hierarchy can play both on our own intimate creative relationship as well as society's collective consciousness.

We decided to create S/M and propose that authority and hierarchy can both be useful creative tools, at the condition that they remain fluid, dissolvable and based on mutual caring. By inviting improvisation in the process and thus involving a huge amount of freedom in the actual material we work with, we hope to blur the lines between who is really in charge and show where the negotiation happens in the performance. It is a live deconstruction of our respective roles, as doer and observer, a challenge to the dynamics of our creative partnership, and an invitation for the audience to question who is really deciding what happens as it unravels.

By constantly reinventing the parameters and hierarchy of our relationship on stage, we wish to unveil a perspective on power that can be framed in a precise context, and in which rules are only valid during the negotiated time it takes to create a performance.

We created two versions of this piece, S/M (Some/ Moments) 35 minutes, and S/M (Stage/Made) 50 minutes, in collaboration with light designer Hannes Ruschbaschan.