Arnica 9CH

The life of the dancer to an outsider is a glamorous one. Fit, agile bodies expressing ideas and thoughts through exquisite movement. Maud Liardon turns this premise on its head and casts the spotlight upon aches, injuries and self-doubt in Arnica 9CH (my life as a dancer).

Having trained at the Conservatory and the Dance School of Geneva, and worked extensively as a professional dancer, Liardon founded the association Arnica 9CH to develop a more personal side of her work. It is from this creative outlet which she opens up her world to the audience.

The set is naked: Liardon wants us to experience the bare bones of dancing. Opening with minutes of dead silence, she stares into the audience with slow repetitive choreography, allowing the critical eyes of the audience to wash over her. Interspersed with videos detailing the daily morning of a limping, aching performer, a voice-off narration follows Liardon as she begins to warm up and dance.

Allowing the audience into her mind proves powerful and there’s a subtle humour in the way she soliloquises her thoughts. Liardon carries us into a hilarious kitchen scene parody of dance terms, through to a powerful memory of a discussion with a dance tutor as she exposes her deepest insecurities as a young dancer. This piece ebbs and flows from humorous to poignant leaving a tinge of concern for the long-term physical wellbeing of a dance professional and reveals that it’s not nearly the glamorous world we all expect.