THE GAP is a story about freedom, understanding freedom…In this auto-fictional solo Penkova questions the accessibility and inclusivity of contemporary dance. When she arrived to Sweden from Russia in the 1990s as a teenager, it took her some time to understand the new Western reality. Much was similar, but even more unfamiliar. Then as a classically trained dance student she was also introduced to Western contemporary dance which later became the basis of her long international career as a dancer with established choreographers in Belgium and Sweden. Thirty years later she draws a parallel between the move to the West and the transition to the contemporary dance aesthetics. She tries to make visible a sense of constant delay. A kind of temporal gap that she struggled to fill in order to catch up with Western freedom. Alternating between silence, music, voices from dance icons and her own reflections on norms and values between East and West, the audience is drawn into an hour-long dance solo with elements of melodrama and humour.  THE GAP is the second part of the 18 steps through (dance) history trilogy.

credits:

choreography/text/dance: Liza Penkova

dramaturgy : Armin Kerber

sound: Per-Henrik Mäepää

lightdesign: Nelson Lima

costume: Anne-Catherine Kunz

co-production: Vitlycke Center for Performing Arts

production/admin: Producentbyrån

special thanks to team 2022: Håkan Jelk, Wannes de Rydt, Liza Winzel

co-production: Vitlycke CPA

with residency support from: LeBoson/Bruxelles, 3eVåningen/Göteborg, DCVäst, MDT/STockholm, Hallen/Farsta, Konstkollektivet/Mölndal

subsidized by: Swedish arts grants commette, Swedish arts council, Gothenburg city arts concil, Västra Götalands region.