Choreographed and performed by: Cecilia Bengolea, François Chaignaud, Trajal Harrell, Marlene Monteiro Freitas
Lighting design by: Yannick Fouassier
Stylism: La Bourette
Light manager: Sylvain Rausa/ Yannick Fouassier
Sound manager: Martin Trinquart
Administration/production: Jenny Suarez
Diffusion: Sarah de Ganck/ Art Happens
© Paula Court & AnnavanKooij

About the show:
(M)IMOSA is the result of the collaborative work between four choreographers: Cecilia Bangolea, François Chaignaud, Marlene Freitas, and Trajal Harrell. This is the title of the medium version (size M) from a series of shows by Trajal Harrell in seven sizes – from XS to XL, called Twenty  Looks  or  Paris  is  Burning  at  The  Judson  Church. The conceptual framework of the shows revolves around the idea of the encounter between two parallel lines of dance narratives, which has not had an intersection point in the time of their emergence – neither a social nor an aesthetic one. These are the Harlem “voguing” of the 60s, organized on the so-called ballroom scene, the place for the marginalized community of homosexuals, African-Americans and Latinos on the one hand, and the new postmodern wave associated with the dynamic formation of artists around the Judson Church Dance Theater, on the other.
What would have happened in 1963, if someone from the voguing ball scene had come down to Judson Church in Greenwich Village to perform alongside the early postmoderns?
This is the hypothetical situation which Trajal Harrell’s shows “re-enact” by quoting the question directly in each show. Without recreating on stage such circumstances, the performers rather use the hypothesis as inspiration and a starting point. The shows are an extremely interesting postmodern mixture of pop culture, high reference values, technical virtuosity (both dance and vocal), an idle “everyday” attitude, charisma, artistry, willfulness, disco, vogue, and commonness. In their personal research on “voguing” culture, the four choreographers got their inspiration from Jennie Livingston’s documentary Paris Is Burning, which tells about the African-American and Latino homosexuals, who find an outlet for their invisible existence in the marginalized societies at the competitive balls, organized by the so-called Houses named after the “mother” - Pepper LaBeija, Angie Xtravaganza, etc. The origins of “voguing” go back to precisely those ballrooms, the main idea behind it being the imitation of archetypal social and gender identities through fashion, movement, and behavior on and off stage. In their shared experience, the four choreographers create a totally free space for interaction between stage and audience. What they borrow from “voguing” (now only a fad) is its essence of transformation into an otherwise impossible personality, whose authenticity is so strongly desired that it almost becomes real in one’s head. The performers embody various characters with a remarkable ease, confidence, but most of all, delight, joy, fun and trust (this is what actually makes “voguing” such an “authentic” experience), which is why the shows have a really emotional impact on the audience, such that resembles being at a party or a concert.

About the choreographers:
Trajal Harrell is an American artist, choreographer and performer from New York. He’s the creator of many choreographic projects, most notably the Twenty  Looks  or  Paris  is  Burning  at  The  Judson  Church series, which combines “voguing” and early postmodern dance. In 2012, one of the shows in the series Antigone Sr. received the Bessie Award for Best Production. One of Harrell’s latest works is part of a bigger research project on the Japanese dance style and philosophy Butoh as interpreted in the light of “voguing” culture. The show, entitled Used, Abused, and Hung Out to Dry, premiered at MoMA in 2013.
Cecilia Bangolea is a dancer and a choreographer. She was born in Buenos Aires. She studied anthropology and dance, philosophy and art history at the University of Buenos Aires. Since 2001, she has been living and working in Paris. She has participated in joint projects with choreographers such as Mathilde Monnier, João Fiadeiro, Claudia Triozzi, Mark Tompkins, Yves Noel Genod, Alain Buffard, Trajal Harrell and many others.          
François Chaignaud is a dancer and a choreographer, born in Rennes. He graduated the Conservatoire de Paris. Since 2013, he has been collaborating with choreographers such as Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle Huynh, Gilles Jobin, Tiago Guedes, and Alain Buffard. François Chaignaud’s shows have been inspired by all kinds of styles, genres and techniques, raging from erotica, opera, cabaret, to hula hooping. He has worked with legendary figures such as the transvestite artist Rumi Missabu, the performer and model Benjamin Dukhan, the cabaret artist Jérôme Marin, etc. Together with Cecilia Bangolea, he has initiated many dance projects. In 2009, the two of them won the critics’ Choreographic Revelation award.  
Marlene Monteiro Freitas is a performer and a choreographer. She was born in Cabo Verde, where she founded the Compass dance company. In Europe, she studied dance at P.A.R.T.S. Brussels, E.S.D. and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon. She has worked with artists such as Emmanuelle Huynh, Tânia Carvalho, Boris Charmatz, etc. She is the creator of many choreographic projects and is also a member of the Bomba Suicida dance collective, Lisbon.