Ecocritical choreography and poetic object theatre about contemporary society’s relationship to the natural world. Sergiu Matis constantly constructs and deconstructs the landscapes unfolding before our eyes on stage, willing us to grasp the extent of our own destruction.

How do aestheticised images of landscapes distort how humans relate to nature? In his latest solo, Sergiu Matis explores different techniques of landscape representation – from European landscape painting, photography and satellite imagery to CGI (computer-generated imagery) and virtual reality – showing how these form and deform contemporary society's relationship with the natural world.

Can we revisit and investigate this relationship through embodiment and movement? A poetic and chaotic choreography of objects unfolds on stage. Sergiu Matis’s beautifully performed, yet erratic movement material is inspired by non-human life forms, natural phenomena, and landscapes ravaged by human intervention, overturning idealistic representations of unspoilt nature. Committed to an ecologically engaged approach not only in his subject matter, but also in his way of working, the Berlin-based, Romanian-born dancer and choreographer uses objects and props found in the storages of the theatres that host him for his sustainable scenograhy. He mobilizes this theatrical apparatus – from carpet rolls, pipes, wooden slats to the gel colors used in theater lamps – to create his own landscapes, which just like the above mentioned representations, are mere abstract and alienated constructs of the natural world.

The tensions between contemporary society and nature are accentuated by the sound design created by Andrea Parolin, who combines music by György Ligeti with the electroacoustic experiments of Emptyset, Hexorcismos, and Siminia Oprescu to enable us to physically experience the devastation caused by humans. Sergiu Matis constantly constructs and deconstructs the landscapes unfolding before our eyes, willing us to grasp the extent of our own destruction. His precise yet poetic movements embody natural elements ranging from a tree twisted by the storm to a flock of birds ready to take flight, while also taking on the form of humans seeking refuge from ecological disaster.

Warp Renderings is a truly ecocritical choreography that confronts us with our distorted behaviour and gives voice and body to the more-than-human world, while using ‘warp’ (deforming, twisting, distorting) as an artistic strategy to transform socially engaged content into a visceral experience.


Tanzfabrik Berlin (Video © Bickmann & Kolde GbR)