Ula Sickle

Last updated

Ula Sickle is a Canadian / Polish choreographer and performer residing in the Brussels-Capital Region.

Contents

Training

Ula Sickle studied art history and semiotics at the University of Toronto and then performing arts at the Université Paris 8. Afterwards she moved to Brussels, where she studied at the dance school P.A.R.T.S. from 2000 to 2004. From 2008 to 2010, she continued to deepen her knowledge in visual arts and film during studies at Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in Tourcoing.[ citation needed ]

Work as a choreographer

Since 2004, Sickle works as an independent choreographer. Her artistic work takes on different forms, from video to installations and stage performances. Since 2004, she made twelve stage performances, a video and an installation. The work was presented at, among others, Kaaitheater, KVS and Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), ImPulsTanz and TanzQuartier (Vienna), Teatr Nowy (Warsaw, Zodiac & Moving in November festival (Helsinki), Reykjavik Dance Festival, Tangente (Montreal), B:OM festival (Seoul), Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zürich) and les Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (Paris).

Collaborations

Sickle often collaborates with artists from other domains such as visual arts (e.g., Alexis Destoop and Daniela Bershan), contemporary music (e.g., Yann Leguay, Peter Lenaerts and Stine Janvin Motland) or architecture (e.g., Laurent Liefooghe). With Alexis Destoop and Peter Lenaerts, she began during her studies at P.A.R.T.S. also the collective Rebecca September, which resulted in the production Knockout (Rebecca September, 2005). For Viewmaster (2007-2008) and Viewmaster Series (2010-2012) she worked together with the dancer and performance artist Heike Langsdorf. With Heike Langsdorf, Christophe Meierhans and Christoph Ragg (together C&H), she also collaborated on their performance The Nickelodeon (C&H, 2008). [1] Before she was a dancer in Vost (Mårten Spångberg, 2004). [2] In 2017 she collaborates as a choreographer on the production 7EVEN, that is based on The 7 Necessities, the artistic manifesto of choreographer / dancer Emio Greco and choreographer / director Pieter C. Scholten. It consists of seven new works of seven minutes created by seven artists and performed by seven dancers of the Ballet National Marseille and ICK. [3]

Alternative canon for contemporary dance

In her productions Sickle is looking for ways to open the canon of contemporary dance, which is strongly influenced by evolutions in Europe and North America. That prompted her to seek performers who embody another movement history. A point of departure is her interest in contemporary popular music and dance, such as found in, among others, the nightclubs of the Congolese capital Kinshasa. Contemporary popular music and dance are often claimed to be commercial and standardized, and they would foster the blurring of moral standards and social escapism. But because they can cross language barriers, they make cultural exchanges widely possible in a globalized world. In the productions Solid Gold (Sickle, Dinozord and Yann Leguay, 2010), Jolie (Ula Sickle, Yann Leguay and Jolie Ngemi, 2011) and Kinshasa Electric (Sickle, Popol Amisi, Daniela Bershan, Jeannot Kumbonyeki and Joel Tenda, 2014), Ula Sickle therefore worked with Congolese performers whose diverse and complex background is far from her own Western dance background. In the productions, she follows the individual history of the dancers and the way in which their movements are culturally and politically colored. But Ula Sickle not only works with non-Western dancers to break the canon of contemporary dance, in Extreme Tension (Ula Sickle, Marie De Corte and Yann Leguay, 2012–14) she worked with an older dancer. Her interest in globalized pop culture, not only as music but also as a web of references, trends, attitudes and gestures, was also the basis of Extended Play (2016), in which she collaborated again with Daniela Bershan (aka DJ Baba Electronics).

Dialogue between body and technology

In Extended Play, Sickle uses a specially designed musical app for IPad (created by French beat boxer and programmer Black Adopo) and wireless microphones, allowing the performers to compose and play the music live. Technology and the relationship between man and device is another common thread through her productions. Bodies engage in dialogue with smartphones, amplifiers, microphones or light sources. In Prelude (Sickle, Stine Janvin Motland and Yann Leguay, 2014), subtle live sound modeling often makes it unclear whether Stine Janvin Motland, known for her original extensive vocal techniques, sings or that her faint sounds are manipulated digitally. In Light Solos (Sickle and Yann Leguay, 2011-2013), stroboscopes play a crucial role. The flashes of darkness and light follow each other at an extreme pace, so the viewer can never see the dancer in her totality, but only in fragments that already disappear when they appear. In this way Sickle examines how the sensory and cognitive experience of reality is mediated by technology.

Videos and installations

In addition to her stage performances, Sickle also makes audiovisual work, often associated with her stage performances. The video Atomic 5.1 (2010) is based on one of her Light Solos (Ula Sickle and Yann Leguay, 2011-2013). The video installation Looping the Loop (2009), which focuses on a young Congolese hiphopper, was at the origin of Solid Gold (Ula Sickle, Dinozord and Yann Leguay, 2010). Both works were produced by Le Fresnoy during her residence there.

Exhibitions

In 2017 Sickle was artist in residence at Ujazdowski Castle, Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. The following year she had her first solo show at the museum. [4]

Productions

Audiovisual productions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ninette de Valois</span> Irish-born British dancer (1898–2001)

Dame Ninette de Valois was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, later establishing the Royal Ballet, one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading ballet companies in the world. She also established the Royal Ballet School and the touring company which became the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet and as the "godmother" of English and Irish ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniela Mercury</span> Brazilian singer-songwriter (born 1965)

Daniela Mercury is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, and producer. In her solo career, Mercury has sold over 11 million records worldwide, and had 24 Top 10 singles in the country, with 14 of them reached No. 1. Winner of a Latin Grammy for her album Balé Mulato – Ao Vivo, she also received six Brazilian Music Award, an APCA award, three Multishow Brazilian Music Awards and two awards at VMB: Best Music Video and Photography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pina Bausch</span> German dancer and choreographer

Philippine "Pina" Bausch was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as Tanztheater. Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance movement, prominent sound design, and involved stage sets, as well as for engaging the dancers under her to help in the development of a piece, and her work had an influence on modern dance from the 1970s forward. Her work, regarded as a continuation of the European and American expressionist movements, incorporated many expressly dramatic elements and often explored themes connected to trauma, particularly trauma arising out of relationships. She created the company Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, which performs internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batsheva Dance Company</span>

The Batsheva Dance Company is a renowned dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva de Rothschild in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Carlson (artist)</span> American dancer and choreographer

Carolyn Carlson is an American born French nationalized contemporary dance choreographer, performer, and poet. She is of Finnish descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heike Hennig</span> German choreographer and dancer

Heike Hennig is a German dancer, choreographer and director of the opera and dance ensemble "Heike Hennig & Co".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Ratnam</span> Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer

Anita Ratnam is an Indian classical and contemporary dancer and choreographer. Classically trained in Bharat Natyam, she has also received formal training in Kathakali, Mohiniattam, and tai chi and Kalarippayattu, thus creating a dance style which she has coined "Neo Bharatam".

Françoise Adret was a French ballet dancer, teacher, choreographer, and company director.

Christine De Smedt is a Belgian dancer and choreographer. Her artistic work is situated on the boundary between dance / performance, choreography, artistic coordination and artistic projects of various kinds.

Mette Edvardsen is a choreographer, dancer, and performance artist from Norway, who lives and works in Brussels, Belgium.

Sarah Ludi (1971) is a Swiss dancer who is based in Brussels and is best known for her work with the choreographers Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas and Thomas Hauert / ZOO.

Eleanor Bauer is an American choreographer and dancer.

Hans Van den Broeck is a Belgian dancer, choreographer and video artist who is best known for his productions for les ballets C de la B and SOIT.

P.A.R.T.S. - Performing Arts Research and Training Studios is an international school for contemporary dance that is located in Vorst, one of the 19 municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium.

Samantha van Wissen is a Dutch dancer who is mostly known for her work with the Brussels-based choreographers Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas and Thomas Hauert / ZOO.

Na'ama Zisser is a London-based Israeli composer.

Lenora Antoinette Stines, better known as L'Antoinette Ọṣun Awade Wemo Stines is a Jamaican director, choreographer, author, actor and dancer. She is the founder and artistic director of L'Acadco: A United Caribbean Dance Force, an industry-leading contemporary dance company based in Jamaica. Stines is also the creator of the first Anglo Caribbean Modern Contemporary training procedure called L'Antech. L'Antech is an eclectic Caribbean contemporary technique that synthesizes African influences, Caribbean folklore, and is dominated by Jamaican Afro-Caribbean forms.

Jolie Ngemi is a dancer and performance artist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Nacera Belaza is an Algerian dancer and conceptual choreographer who is known for performances that present repeated actions in an austere manner.

References

  1. Page about The Nickelodeon (C&H, 2008) on the website of the International Film Festival Rotterdam
  2. Kunstenpunt - Productions - Vost (Mårten Spångberg, 2004) according to the Flemish Arts Institute
  3. Page about 7EVEN (Emio Greco and Pieter C. Scholten in collaboration with Nacera Belaza, Amos Ben-Tal, Eric Minh Cuong Castaing, Joeri Dubbe, Faustin Linyekula, Ayelen Parolin and Ula Sickle, 2017) on the website of ICK
  4. "Ula Sickle – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art".
  5. Page about Borrowed Time (Ula Sickle, 2017) on the website of Ula Sickle
  6. Page about 7even (Nacera Belaza, Amos Ben-Tal, Eric Minh Cuong Castaing, Joeri Dubbe, Faustin Linyekula, Ayelen Parolin en Ula Sickle, 2017) on the website of ICK
  7. Page about Tunings (Ula Sickle en Stine Janvin, 2017) on the website of Ula Sickle
  8. Page about Tunings (Ula Sickle en Stine Janvin, 2017) on the website of Sound of Stockholm @ MDT
  9. Page about Free Gestures - Wolne Gesty (Ula Sickle, 2018) on the website of Ula Sickle
  10. Page about Free Gestures - Wolne Gesty (Ula Sickle, 2018) on the website of Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art
  11. Page about Relay (Ula Sickle, 2018) on the website of Ula Sickle
  12. Page about Relay (Ula Sickle, 2018) on the website of Nuit Blanche

Sources

Further reading