Vénus anatomique presents a collection of female bodies that are prepared for "work" and suddenly thrown into circumstances where survival is key. The work reveals their two states: human nature and object of representation. This duality is underlined by the body's constant striving to regain itself. In Vénus anatomique, Sarah Baltzinger comments on the disorder of the world, i.e. the superficial simulacra and sexualisation of the female body. She creates a universe in which the feminine is transformed into a masquerade and appears through a distorted prism of the absurd.

 

Based on the striking wax figures of the late 18th century ceroplaist Clemente Susini, Vénus anatomique balances between the macabre and the pulsion de vie (the impulses of life). The strange, erotic and biblical qualities of the "artificial" bodies designed to teach medical students and the public about anatomy emerge in the imaginary world created on stage. This project belongs to the choreographer's ongoing series of investigations based on the methodology of controlling marionettes and mechanical gestures that reveal the body in a fragmented way. Nothing else but the friction between a pronounced physicality and immobility acts here as the driving force of the whole choreography. 

 

Concept, artistic direction, production and choreography: Sarah Baltzinger

Co-writer and assistant choreographer: Isaiah Wilson

Co-writers and performers: Chiara Corbetta, Shynna Kalis, Marie Lévénez, Clara-Lou Munié and Océane Robin

Primary research: Alexandra Joly and Sarah Baltzinger

Dramaturgy: Amandine Truffy, Isaiah Wilson and Sarah Baltzinger

Score: Guillaume Jullien

Scenography: Manon Terranova

Body Sculpture: Manuela Benaim

Recording Supervisor: Brian CA