Steven Cohen engages in a deeply moving ceremony in memory of his partner, the dancer Elu, who passed away after 20 years of life together. A cathartic gesture doubled with a brave profession of faith in art as a ritual that celebrates life. He invites the public to celebrate love with him, and to engage in dialogue with death. Everything that happens is real.
“This work is an expression of accepting my destiny in not dying alongside Elu, an experiment in how to deal with survivor guilt in an effort to keep my amputated heart still beating, in how to bear tribute to our lives so richly danced in poverty.
I will let the dead bury the dead and I will produce a vital art, in celebration of our shared life – sometimes with the wind in its sails, sometimes by crawling on “the boulevard of broken dreams”
The last wish that Elu expressed to me on his deathbed was “I want to be with you forever”. It will be so.”
Attending a work by Steven Cohen is always an indelible experience. His ability to transform his body into a work of art, his face and his skull into a landscape, seems limitless. Painted, adorned with rhinestones, butterfly wings, entirely powdered, he becomes here a magical and striking deity of timeless beauty.
put your heart under your feet… and walk! is included in our Bear (AKA Full Week) and Otter (Weekend Max) Passes. Click here for more information about our passes.
Credits
Choreography, Scenography, Costumes and Interpretation: Steven Cohen
Lights: Yvan Labasse
Videos: Richard Muller & SHU
Video Management: Baptiste Evrard
External Regard: Catherine Cossa
Stage Management: Samuel Mateu
Production: Cie Steven Cohen
Co-Production: humain Trop humain – Centre Dramatique National (Montpellier), Montpellier Danse, and Dance Umbrella (Johannesburg) with the support of DRAC Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Show created on June 24, 2017 at the Centre Dramatique National de Montpellier as part of the Montpellier Danse Festival.
Access
This performance contains haze effects. In addition, there will be a quiet space at MAC to de-compress following the performance if needed.
Fierce Says
Steven Cohen is a legend. He returns to Fierce after presenting SPHINCTEROGRAPHY in 2014 and we are honoured to present maybe the final performance of put your heart under your feet… and walk! The images he creates here are haunting, sumptuous, devastating, and undeniable. We can’t wait to talk to you about this one afterwards.