At Maria Donata D’Urso, the body, naked, universal, deconstructs the human figure and turns into singular living matter. In her solos, the Sicilian dancer and choreographer makes the body an unknown subject whose multiple strata of perception have not ceased to fascinate.– La Terrasse

DisOrienta

e/ma
 

e/ma was born from a common reflection of choreographer Maria Donata D’Urso and digital artist Wolf Ka (winners of the Bains numérique #7 in 2012) on the Japanese meaning of “MA”, which refers to the distance between two or multiple objects, or the interval or space between two elements.

It is the continuation of research carried out during their residency at Villa Kujoyama in Japan on the notion of “MA”, the void and silence between things and beings, as well as breathing. In this new research, the scene becomes a microcosm that refers to the contemporary world. The interaction between the dancer and the polyhedron becomes a way to model the vision of man and his environment from a holistic perspective. The polyhedron, controlled by digital algorithms, interacts with the flesh and instincts of the dancers. Four interpreters evolve in the middle of objects, alternating between emptiness and fullness.

Maria Donata D’ Urso, Conception and Choreography 

Maria Donata D’Urso, artistic director, choreographer, dancer and interpreter, was born in Catania, Italy. She studied architecture and contemporary dance in Rome. In 1985, she worked with choreographer Richard Haisma and studied at Merce Cunningham Studio and Nikolais Murray Louis Dance Company.

Since 1988, she has lived in Paris, studying and working with Paco Decina, Francesca Lattuada, Hubert Colas, Arnold Pasquier, Marco Berrettini, Christian Rizzo and Wolf Ka. In 2004, she founded DisOrienta. Her works are focused on limits, absence & presence, inside & out and ambiguous surfaces. She was artist-in-residence at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto, Japan in 2012.

Wolf Ka, Conception and Interactive Device

Wolf Ka, a digital artist, lives and works in Paris. He studied art history, psychology, theater and digital design in Berlin and Paris. He founded his company “Res Publica” in 1996 and, as artistic director, has developed a number of programs. He teaches digital art and performing arts, and has created a fab lab. At the center of Ka’s research is the concept of a scenic device that draws a specific layout of technologies. This device is used in singular experiments to interrogate the relation between people and the technological environment. His projects are the results of collaborative research with dancers, architects, engineers, visual artists, musicians, and programmers. Ka was artist-in-residence at Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto, Japan in 2012.

DisOrienta

DisOrienta was created in 2004 for the realization of choreographic projects, creation and distribution of shows, performances, educational projects, transmission, and dance facilities. Its name reflects a state of mind and a desire to propose new orientations of the dancing body. From its first creation, Pezzo 0 (due), and under collaboration with visual artist Laurent Goldring, DisOrienta has reinvented the performance space. Maria Donata D'Urso is the current artistic director.

Creative and Production Team

Conception and Choreography / Maria Donata D’ Urso

Conception and Interactive Device / Wolf Ka

Lighting Design / Sylvie Garot

Sound Design / Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch, assisted by Dionysos Papanicolaou

Digital Manufacturing and 3D Printing / The ENSCI, with the complicity of La Nouvelle Fabrique et Volumes 

Stage Manager / Ludovic Rivière

Dancers / Maria Donata D’Urso, Suzon Holzer, Anne Laurent, Bumpei Kunimoto

Production Manager / Catherine Monaldi