Meg Stuart
One of the world’s most influential and acclaimed contemporary choreographers, Meg Stuart (US, b. 1965) continually invents new presentation contexts and movement languages in collaboration with artists from diverse disciplines. The Berlin/Brussels-based artist’s multipart Walker engagement included An evening of solos and duets (April 5–6, 2019) and the North American premiere of the Walker co-commissioned installation/performance Celestial Sorrow (April 11–13, 2019).
With a focus on the body as a vulnerable, uncertain presence, Stuart and her company Damaged Goods reconfigured 30 years of evocative dance in An evening of solos and duets, a presentation that encapsulates their profound influence on contemporary performance. The work revisited both the past and the present, giving a unique look into an oeuvre that continues to grow and transform. In Celestial Sorrow—an immersive installation made with celebrated Indonesian visual artist, theater maker, and musician Jompet Kuswidananto—Stuart (Indonesia, b. 1976)— creates a vibrant world of light, movement, and music inhabited by three performers and two musicians. Possession, implanted fictional traumas, imaginary and invisible spaces, and the voices that make them resonate became starting points for an adventurous leap into unknown territories.
Projects
Meg Stuart & Jompet Kuswidananto/Damaged Goods: Celestial Sorrow
Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods: An evening of solos and duets
Learn more
Sad Songs to Euphoria: Jompet Kuswidananto on the Making of Celestial Sorrow
Celestial Sorrow arose from multiple origins, recalls Indonesian visual artist, theater maker, and musician Jompet Kuswidananto of the performative installation he made in collaboration with choreographer Meg Stuart, “from personal memory to social trauma, from a flood of cat pics to banned sad songs, from sound healing to trance dance. In the end the experience felt like being in a long and random dream.” In a wide-ranging interview, he discusses his collaborative artistic practice and the influences that drove the making of the piece.
Talking Dance: Meg Stuart
“What was a private fantasy about dance…maybe there’s something that can mobilize us socially on a whole other scale.” In a recent conversation with leading dance scholar and performer Thomas DeFrantz, choreographer Meg Stuart discusses the ideas and practices that went into the making of the Walker commission Celestial Sorrow, from explorations of the sounding body and breath, to telepathy, sorrow, pleasure, and trance.
Past events
Meg Stuart/Benoît Lachambre/Hahn Rowe with Damaged Goods & par b.l.eux: FORGERIES, LOVE AND OTHER MATTERS