‘The Mountain Range, Beyond Borders’ (MRBB) is a project curated by Lisa Gilardino aimed at innovative cross-border touring of ‘The Mountain Body’ by choreographer Helle Siljeholm.
The research aims to enable a focused meditation in and with the chosen nature sites on how they are constantly shifting, transforming, and connecting us through geological time – present and possible future.
If we sharpen our senses and listen, can these bodies provide us with alternate imaginings of a collective and just future? The MRBB starts in the Dolomites at the Bolzano Danza festival together with Biennale Gherdëina as a choreographic installation for a mountain, involving five climbers and a sound composition; it then moves to the Pre-Pyrenees at Sismògraf in Olot incorporating local climbers; then to the Azores archipelago for Walk&Talk Biennial, where the project, shared with local climate researchers and scientists, will explore horizontality and the underwater; finally, it moves to Iceland for the Reykjavik Dance festival, with Palestinian-Icelandic writer and journalist Mazen Maarouf accompanying the presentation. Location scouting and research will take place digitally; the project unfolds with the participation of locals, reacting specifically to each context.
Bolzano Danza is a leading festival of contemporary dance, both nationally and internationally. Organized byFondazione Haydn Stiftung, it brings its contagious energy to the city every July, attracting a diverse andenthusiastic audience. Inclusion, participation and sustainability are key to the festival. It is open to societaldiversity and ready to capture our world in a state of flux – through the universal language of dance.
Sismògraf is the festival that detects the movements of the body and of the planet. Of the body because itcovers dance, circus acts, performances, walks and hybrid situations; and of the planet because there is nodoubt that we live on a living planet with volcanic eruptions and rising sea levels that we must listen to. It is asituated festival that reaches out from La Garrotxa to the rest of the world. For this very reason, the landscapeis an integral part of the festival, landscape is understood as a physical, mental, and emotional setting, and asa place where things happen.
Walk&Talk Biennial is an experimental and participatory project that takes place on the island of São Miguel,Azores. It exists in dialogue with the territory and the involvement of local and migrant communities aroundthe knowledge generated in the expanded field of the arts, intersecting visual arts, performance, music,architecture, and design. Geologically straddling the North American, Eurasian, and African plates, thisvolcanic archipelago, through centuries of ecological imperialism, has transformed and multiplied well beyondits endemic vegetation to become a cornucopia of species that trace a history of global trade andcorresponding forms of capitalism as they intersected with these isles.
Reykjavík Dance Festival is an international center for choreographic practices in Iceland - seeking to curatean all year round conversation with its audiences – through the artists we present, support and produce.Founded in 2002, RDF's central activity has always been its international festival which now takes place inNovember. Since 2014 however, RDF has extended its activities – to include national and internationalinitiatives throughout the year in the form of mini-festival formats, workshops, and residencies.
‘The Mountain Range, Beyond Borders’ (MRBB) is supported by Perform Europe, a forward-looking funding scheme for the European performing arts sector. Through an Open Call Perform Europe supports 42 inclusive, diverse and green touring projects across all 40 Creative Europe countries.
About Perform Europe
Perform Europe, supported by the European Union, is a funding scheme for the European performing arts sector. It facilitates international networking and supports inclusive, diverse, and eco-friendly touring projects across the 40 Creative Europe countries. Perform Europe emphasises practices rooted in sustainability and inclusivity, aiming to transform the performing arts sector and ensure a balanced distribution across the continent.
Perform Europe is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and implemented by a consortium of six organisations: IETM – International network for contemporary performing arts, European Festivals Association (EFA), Circostrada, European Dance Development Network, Pearle * - Live Performance Europe and IDEA Consult.
