Spinning that wheel for human kind

The European Capitals of Culture in 2017 Aarhus and Paphos, to some extent, represent the extremes in a Europe that is currently facing a series of profound complex problems. The political standpoints are many and attitudes divided, and in the heated discussions focus is slowly moving away from the most central part – human. This is what a performance by the pioneering artistic group based in Denmark, Don Gnu, plans to base their performance on on Friday.

“In a physical debate centered round the half-ton heavy, rotating balancing board, we wish to create a space, where there is room for listening and understanding one another,” the artistic group said.

Within this space to listen, the group will ask how everyday life looks to an ordinary Cypriot citizen of Paphos, and if it has anything in common with everyday life in Aarhus.

The rotating board is a large disc which is the basis of the group’s event, and it will be placed in the centre of the town, dismantling in the most unambiguously way boundaries and separations.

The choreography will be created and challenged during the performance by the audience. Placed around the enormous balance-board the audience gets close to both the stage and the dancers, with the opportunity to take part and leave their own mark on the performance. This is why no two performances will ever be the same and anything can happen.

Don Gnu uses in its productions elements from body theatre, dance and cinema, aiming at a constant exceeding of the limits between artistic fields. The group handle all three types with ease thanks to choreographers Jannik Elkær and Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen.

The project is developed in collaboration with Dance House Lemesos. It will be repeated with a version for the audience in Aarhus in November.

Don Gnu
Dance, video and physical theatre performance. June 9. Kennedy Square, Paphos. 8.30pm. Free. Tel: 26-932017

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.