Sense Perceptions

"As a dancer, I was very often asked questions about my work that weren’t relevant," explains Maud Liardon on her solo show Arnica 9CH. "I realised that there was an awful gap between what I lived and felt and what people would see or think of a dancer." Arnica 9CH, conceived in 2008, tries to readdress these preconceptions by showing the everyday, not so glamorous reality of life as a dancer.

Liardon trained at the Conservatory and the School of Dance in Geneva. In 2005 she began making work with an unapologetically personal perspective, drawing on her own experiences as inspiration. Instead of a simply being a dancer dancing a choreographer’s steps, she was now dancing her own. Arnica 9CH uses dance, vocal narrative and pre-recorded video. Liardon explains that although she is revealing the darker side of dance she maintains a strong sense of self mockery in the show. She layers choreographed sequences with what she describes as "casual thoughts" a sort-of stream of consciousness about her surroundings and her role as dancer.

Arnica 9CH incorporates references not only to dance, but also to film. "I’m very much inspired by cinema and by techniques such as Bootlegging -- using pre-existing work like music or movie scenes and combining them in a new way." Don’t be surprised then to find a re-enactment of a scene from The Shining, in this, a show that promises to be humorously multi-faceted.