AS WE DROVE SHORT SHORT HORIZON-LINES

dance-music performance

Inflexion

The performance lasts 50 minutes and has no intermissions.

Concept, text and direction Claire Huber
Creation and performance Stalin Blake, Claire Huber, Nastasja Stefanić Kralj or Filipa Bavčević
Costumes Zdravka Ivandija Kirigin
Scenography Stalin Blake and Claire Huber
Technique Emmanuel Desmyter
Production Inflexions
Coproductions The Croatian Institute for Movement and Dance (Hrvatski institut za pokret i ples), Teatroskop – Southeastern European performing art network initiated by the Institut Français.

Residencies in CDCN Toulouse-La place de la danse, Honolulu-Nantes, Théâtre Marni, Kunstencentrum BUDA, Kunstencentrum KAAP, Kunstencentrum STUK, De School van Gaasbeek, Balkan Dance Academy Slovenia, Garage Performing Arts Center, DEVIR/CAPA, Stanica-Station for Contemporary Dance, Zagreb Dance Center, Mediterranean Dance Center.

With the support of the Flemish Community, F.W.B., W.B.I., Creative Europe, Teatroskop-Institut Français, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia

Thanks to Tanja Gavrilovic, Catherine Faudry, France Morin, Filipa Bavčević, Svetlana Spajic, Clara Lévy, Tom Pauwels

Claire Huber’s performative work traverses oral poetry, choreography, sound, and music. She conceives her pieces as "choreographies for listening," as they aim to sculpt perceptions in time and invite an attentive awareness to what is not immediately apparent.

In As We Drove Short Short Horizon-Lines, in close collaboration with Kurdish musician Stalin Blake and Croatian dancer Nastasja Štefanić Kralj, the French artist follows the sensitive inflections of long journeys that span from the Middle Eastern regions, across the Balkans, to Western Europe, bridging horizons that are persistently broken into short, ever shorter lines. Composed as a living poem with multiple voices, languages, instruments, and bodies, the performance offers an intimate sonic pathway, drawing from the human experience of the constantly changing "here" of those who can never fully settle.

Claire Huber’s work merges oral poetry, choreography, sound, and music into intimate "living poems." She studied philosophy at E.H.E.S.S. in Paris and choreography at Tanzfabrik in Berlin and P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels. Her extensive travels, especially in Western Africa, Southern Europe, and the Middle East, inspired her interest in orality and the expressive body. She has lived and collaborated with artists in Paris, Berlin, Athens, Ireland, Lisbon, and Brussels. In 2020, she founded "Inflexions," an artistic platform for research and creation in scenic poetry, music, sound, and choreography, emphasizing experimentation and new forms. She has led workshops on "sound dramaturgies" and "rhythms in choreographic composition." Her work includes stage pieces like As We Drove Short Short Horizon-Lines, And Then We Knew It Was Wind in Athens, and The Uncontrollable Mystery on the Bestial Floor in Ireland. In 2024, she will create No.oN, a scenic poem about the "body that says no." Her work has toured Europe and received support from Creative Europe, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, W.B.I., Flemish Community, Goethe Institute, Institut Français, and Teatroskop.

Stalin Blake is a Kurdish musician, guitarist, and singer born in northern Syria. He learned music "by ear" and through oral transmission from a very early age. After moving to Damascus, he studied classical guitar at the Russian Academy and flamenco at the Spanish Embassy. In his first group, Azadi, he composed music without scores, fusing traditional Kurdish melodies with gypsy, flamenco, and blues influences. He became interested in how sound affects movement, particularly walking. Stateless in Syria due to his Kurdish origin, Blake embarked on a long journey to Belgium nearly twelve years ago and became Belgian in 2023. He performs everywhere, from the streets to renowned concert halls such as Beursschouwburg, Ancienne Belgique, KVS, VK, and Muziekpublique. He also creates music for theater pieces, including those at Bronks, Centre Bruegel, and Théâtre Océan Nord. His improvisational work led him to contemporary dance, where he found an immediate affinity, and he has notably collaborated with Claire Huber on the piece As We Drove Short Short Horizon-Lines.

Nastasja Štefanić Kralj is a musician, dancer, choreographer, and pedagogue based in Zagreb. She holds BA and MA degrees in viola from the Music Academy in Zagreb and a BA in contemporary dance from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb. Nastasja creates her own work and collaborates with both Croatian and international artists. She has performed in Croatia and across Europe, including Belgium, the UK, Greece, and Germany. Her pieces, such as Cadenza per 6 and Etude for Viola and MIDI Controller, have been featured at festivals like Festival of Dance and Movement Periscope, Echo Echo Dance Festival, and L1danceFest. Nastasja has received numerous awards, including the Dean's Award for her role in Hunting Family 2 and the Rector’s Award for Cadenza per 6. She has completed residencies at the Mediterranean Dance Centre and Zagreb Dance Center and works as a teaching assistant at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, holding official freelance artist status since January 2018.