Kalokagathia – Jonas Øren (NO)

Aldersgrense 16+

Speculative and spectacular glamour

Success sets the premise for actions and a narrative that can’t help but strive for glamour and the speculatively spectacular. In Kalokagathia, five performers meet in a mix of dance, live music, text, fashion show, textile installations, living tableaux and superhero suits.

The ancient Greek term kalokagathia describes a connection between moral greatness and a beautiful appearance – a toxic actuality following human beings from ancient times to the present day. In the performance, you will meet bodies of success in scenarios of success:
On the red carpet, award ceremonies, fashion shows, pop concerts and gallery openings. These bodies and actions are liberating and constructive, yet at the same time cruel, toxic, and unattainable.

The artists in kalokagathia are drawn to the cultivation of ideals, cynicism and all that is superficial. They are interested in the representation of the idol. How do body ideals affect the way we move? Glamour and seduction make us copy and imitate each other. We sample the sound of success and ask: How do we mirror ourselves in the people we look up to, and why do we turn these bodies and images into our own identity?

Mats Høstaker and Maya Vik have created a musical composition that builds on the form of a deconstructed pop album. The music is inspired by hyper-pop, characterized by recognizable bubblegum pop clichés mixed with a soundscape that resists and confuses – ugly and beautiful at the same time. Designer and artist Anne Karine Thorbjørnsen has created costumes and scenography based on drapery and folds – inspired by antique sculptures, fashion, and superheroes.

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Credits