Panoptikon

Concept and choreography: Denisa Musilová

Performers: Denisa Musilová, Giulia Carotenuto, Šárka Čermáková

Music: John Mosloskie

Venue: Premiered at the Martha Graham Studio Series (Next@Graham) in New York, (5/7/2019)

PANOPTIKON invokes Foucault’s exploration of the Panoptikon prison as a way of understanding the male gaze and the (dys)function of women under patriarchy. Three women find themselves trapped in a world of fabricated rules, acting out their given roles while suppressing their true desires. Two eight-foot tall frames, which two dancers repeatedly return to, underscore the way in which women so often live as representations of themselves—without real identity or belonging. A third female performer embodies either freedom or denial. Outside the imprisoned duo, is she actually free, or she is simply overseeing that the rules are never broken? As they play out their own traumas, the three women become dependent on one another. Yet their perceived connection ends up creating more distance. Are they sharing moments together or merely the same stigma?