flesh chariot, chariot of flesh

flesh chariot, chariot of flesh is the first collaboration between the American choreographer Faye Driscoll, winner of the Grand Prix de la Danse de Montréal for her work Weathering (2023), and the prestigious Swedish company Cullberg Ballet. Following its premiere at the Kulturhuset Stadstatern in Stockholm, the collaboration between the American choreographer and the Swedish collective is coming to Spain for the first time as part of this Autumn Festival.

This is a production that brings together fifteen dancers on stage, each carrying a question that seems to hang over them: in an age when experiences are flattened out or confined to screens, creating the illusion of depth where it barely exists or does not exist at all, how can we reawaken multidimensional perception?

flesh chariot, chariot of flesh is a moving human mirage: posture, proximity and presence merge into one another like a wet paint that is applied and reapplied in real time. Separate yet, at the same time, united, fifteen bodies vibrate until they become scenes. Through subtle shifts in position and gaze, the group transforms into a living, ever-changing image, embodying strength and stillness, collapse and ecstasy. This raises another question: How does the body process something that cannot be contained?

Faye Driscoll’s works range from realism to fantasy, and from euphoria to unease and anger. She has received numerous awards, including the Doris Duke Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Bessie Award and the Jacob’s Pillow Artist Award. Her works have been performed at prestigious festivals and venues such as Tanz im August, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, La Biennale di Venezia, Festival d’Automne à Paris, the Melbourne Festival, the Belfast International Arts Festival and the Onassis Cultural Centre.

The Cullberg Ballet, which has enjoyed widespread international acclaim for decades, continues to push the boundaries of contemporary dance.

“I invited Faye Driscoll to work with us because I have long been fascinated by her approach to the body,” says Kristine Slettevold, artistic director of the Cullberg Ballet since 2022. “She has an extraordinary ability to engage all the senses and make us aware of our own presence and physicality as spectators.”