Angels always announce both healing and misery. Their mere presence becomes a projection for human hopes, desires, and worries. Similarly, the dancing body pushes the boundaries of the surreal, becoming an object of secret desire and a symbol of fragile skill and courage.
At the center of the dance solo UGLY ANGEL lies the androgynous figure of the archangel Gabriel — messenger of God and ruler of paradise and the snakes. The figure initially explores the stage and audience hesitantly. Its appearance remains ambivalent: sensual, shy, yet self-assured and anchored in its own physicality. With delicate movements, it escapes normative gender constructs of strength and endurance. Instead, it remains careful, transparent, beautiful.
In ominous poses, weeping contortions and wing-like gestures, the ugly angel draws its silent message promisingly into the space, telling of vulnerability and self-assertion. It reaches out to us, seems to seduce and warn us, before finally crawling back into the darkness, half human, half animal.
We are left with the impression of a danced longing for meaning and sensuality. The angel challenges our perception and fascinates us as the embodied idea of the monstrous within us.
Credits
Choreography, Costume Design, Light Design, Concept: Louis Stiens
Music Mix: Louis Stiens
Dancer (original cast): Shaked Heller
Premiere: July 2018, Ballet Works
Duration: 8’
