„m.a.d. or mutually affirmed deviancy is a doctrine of queer strategy and vulnerability. It is a communal solidarity policy implying that putting in danger one or more oppressed organisms will result in their bonding against any possible attacker or discriminatory forces with a full-scale use of bodily weapons, radical care and aggressive acts of non-violence. It’s a pre-emptive body-slap! At the height of the neo-liberal collapse of today’s capitalist society, the doctrine of m.a.d. pushes us all to unite and take action against the hegemonic order.“
m.a.d. - mutually affirmed deviance
2020
piece for 4 performers
65 min
m.a.d. explores the collective body of four performers and their deviance from the norm. Together they venture a shared vulnerability and, strengthened by this newfound unity, they set out to disrupt the vicious cycle of discrimination, hatred and violence. Through choreography and sound the four protagonists attempt to transform the martial meaning of m.a.d. ("mutually assured destruction") into “mutually affirmed deviancy” – into a daring "yes!" in celebration of the body and of their common breakout from its alienating socializations.
m.a.d. by Valerie Reding is a contemporary performance piece for four performers. It is co-produced by Tanzhaus Zürich and premiered on November 3rd 2020. Besides the partnerships Dampfzentrale Bern (CH), Grand Studio (BE), TROIS C-L Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois (LU) and the collective Independent Little Lies (ILL) in Luxembourg (LU), m.a.d. has been awarded the young choreographers’ grant by the Société Suisse des Auteurs (SSA).
Concept, artistic direction:
Valerie Reding
Choreography, performance:
Bastien Hippocrate, Rafal Pierzyński, Valerie Reding
Sound design, performance:
Ivy Monteiro
Dramaturgy:
Marc Streit
Sculpture:
Christopher Füllemann
Light design:
Thomas Giger
Light adaptation:
Marek Lamprecht
Oeil extérieur:
Simone Mousset, Simone Aughterlony
Vocal coach:
Marcel Fässler
Dramaturgical production advisor Tanzhaus Zürich:
Simon Froehling
Video teaser, live stream:
OIL Productions, Nora Smith
Photography, flyer:
Valerie Reding
Production:
REDart, Valerie Reding
Production assistance:
Nico Dubosson
Co-production:
Tanzhaus Zürich
Partners:
Dampfzentrale, Grand Studio, Queer Little Lies Festival, Réseau Grand Luxe, TROIS C-L Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois
Financial support:
Corymbo Stiftung, Dance from Luxembourg, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Fondation Indépendance, Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art, Fondation SUISA, FONDS RESPECT by Pink Cross, LOS (Lesbian Organisation Switzerland) and TGNS (Transgender Network Switzerland), Migros Kulturprozent, Ministère de la Culture Luxembourgeois, Pro Helvetia, Société Suisse des Auteurs SSA, Stadt Zürich Kultur, t. Theaterschaffende Schweiz, TROIS C-L Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois
m.a.d. - live video performance
Oil Productions & Nora Smith
Flesh and fluids unleashing their greed on the walls and screens. We dive into the skin, close enough to feel thousands of organs flooded by their own energy.
For the performances of m.a.d. at Tanzhaus Zurich on the 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 of November 2020, the visual artist Nora Smith from the collective Oil Productions created a live video experience that was streamed online using video captures and the soundscape from the live performance as well as footage from the creation process of the piece and text fragments.
Smith’s multilayered video performance proposes to reach distorted views of the body and its interactions, merging the real and the virtual as well as multiple temporalities into a landscape made of physical contact, organic shapes and VR. Playing with the liveness, fragility and unpredictability of the digital video composition, Smith’s video creations are in no way mere video streamings of a live performance, but they are an attempt to provide the audience in front of the screen with completely different perspectives and visual, emotional, intellectual and sensorial accesses to experiencing movement, dance, bodies and their physicality.
