Jumelles

In French, Jumelles means both “(female) twins” and “binoculars”. In Jumelles, Anne Juren and Frédéric Gies take on the task of portraying one another in the form of two twin dancing portraits: one danced by Anne Juren and choreographed by Frédéric Gies and the other danced by Frédéric and choreographed by Anne. At the origin of this piece is the 18 years long story of artistic collaboration and friendship between the two artists. Their collaboration consisted of participating to research laboratories, collaborating within educational programmes (DanceWEB, MA in choreography at DOCH-SKH) and performing together. They witnessed each other paths within the dance field and accompanied each other both professionally and in their lives. 

Anne and Frédéric respective choreographic works are rather different formally speaking. Yet, deep connections unite them. These connection find their origins in their love for dance and in the way this love grew through their early years within the dance field, as they were both meeting specific trends in post-modern, contemporary dance. Both artists also share a strong interest for the bodily origins of movement, which manifest in the integration of somatic practices in their work. This connects to the way they both emphasize embodiment, sensuality and the power of dance as a medium of expression. Furthermore, feminist and queer perspectives are constituent of their work. 

Their recurrent collaborations, their paths within dance, their common interests and their personal bond have taken the shape of a continuous process of twinning and mutualisation, which underlies Jumelles. Through the act of portraying one another, they put a magnifying glass on this process and on the historicity of their dancing bodies. In these interlinked portraits, the place of the portrayed and the portraitist are interwoven. It opens up a vast field of gazes in which the gaze is a dynamic entity involving the bodies of the dancers, of the portraitists and of the viewers. 

Creation: 2023
Premiere: Jul. 17, 2023 * Vienna, AT
Duration: 70 min.

Dance and choreography: Anne Juren and Frédéric Gies
Lighting Design: Thomas Zamolo
Sound Design, Composition: Paul Kotal (Turf & Surf)
Techno by Fiedel - exploited by Turf & Surf
Costumes: Grzegorz Matlag
Production management: Ambre Andriamanana (DIA), Magdalena Stolhofer (WTKB)

Produced by Dance is ancient and Wiener Tanz und Kunst Bewegung 
Coproduced by Inkonst, Weld, Skogen and ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival  
Residence support by MARC

With the support of The Swedish Arts Council, Region Skåne, the city of Malmö, Stadt Wien Kultur and The Swedish Arts Grants Committee.