Category: Theater

“Sofie Kramer astounds her audience with hellish physical tricks and beautiful prose.” – Theaterkrant 

“The death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic topic in the world” – Edgar Allen Poe

“In A Pole Tragedy I search for female autonomy and sexual self-determination in a male-dominated society. Fascinated by Euripides’ famous tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis, about the sacrifice of a young girl’s body in a men’s war, I explore the thin line between violence and the erotic. In a sweaty duet between my body and a sky high pole I dive into my darkest desires, with Iphigenia as my heroic alter ego. Pushing the power dynamics between my body and the pole to extremes, together with composer/sound artist Mári Mákó I built my own interactive dancing pole, which I play with my body like a music instrument. The hard, immobile, shiny piece of steel gets its own voice and is no longer a passive object in a feminist female fantasy. ​​​​​​​”

Credits:

Concept, text, direction, performance: Sofie Kramer | Instrument development, sound design: Mári Mákó | Dramaturgy: Doke Pauwels | Audio-technical consultancy and live operation: Anne-Jan Reijn  | Costume design: Esther Sloots | Lichtdesign and video: Hendrik Walther | Artistic coaching: Keren Levi | Technician: Leon Vergouw | R Kelly Cover: Sofie Kramer (singer) and Tijl Kramer (producer) | Campaign image: Casper Koster (photography) and Jesse Smits (poster design) | Teaser: Hessel Stuut | Scene photography: Nichon Glerum | Made with support of: Bureau Dégradé, GREENHOUSE/Veem House for Performance, Performing Arts Fund, Amarte, Norma Fund and AFK | Many thanks to: Carl Beukman

Monolith is a performance on the intersection of pole dance, sound art and fashion. It is the third collaboration between performer/pole artist Sofie Kramer and composer/instrument designer Mári Mákó. Through the use of sensory design, we developed a music instrument out of a dancing pole that is played by the body: different touches and different proximities produce different sounds. This way, the body is invited to move in a new, intuitive way. With this tool, we created a liberating ritual inspired by cyborg philosophy and fairytale images that are part of the collective subconscious. To visually enhance the experience we invited fashion designer Batuhan Demir to join the team, who designed a stunning creation using nothing more than a fleece blanket, black feathers, plastic and tape. 

Monolith.2 was made with support of VIA ZUID, Rooms Festival, United Cowboys, Cultuurfonds Limburg and Amarte Fonds.