North American Premiere | Radouan Mriziga addresses dance through the prism of architecture. Following precise protocols of choreographic construction, his performances make and unmake spaces for both his dancers and audiences alike. More often than not, Mriziga uses the bodies of his performers as his starting point. Putting them to use as measuring instruments, Mriziga creates shapes on the ground which recall the tradition of Islamic geometric motifs.
7 is the last installment in a choreographic trilogy that Mriziga has developed using gestures and actions of construction to generate dance. This piece places six dancers and one musician within the mythology surrounding the seven wonders of the world and their disproportionate relationship with the human body. In this group piece, Mriziga confronts moving bodies with the symbolic power of architecture.
Readapted for the Contemporary Arts Center’s lobbies and black box, 7 takes shape via a finely crafted choreographic progression which embraces the venue’s spatial features. The performance prompts audience members to continually adapt their perception of what they see before them and to reconsider their own position within the space.