Sakinan göze çöp batar (an over-protected eye always gets sand in it)

EVENT DESCRIPTION

In 2023, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels co-presents with French May Arts Festival Sakinan göze çöp batar (an over-protected eye always gets sand in it) by Christian Rizzo at the Kwai Tsing Theatre, as part of a Dance Festival in Hong Kong.

First presented in 2012, this piece from Christian Rizzo’s repertoire is the result of a collaboration with the dancer Kerem Gelebek, with whom he worked on many occasions in the past. “When I approached Kerem for a solo performance, my first desire was to concentrate on melancholy and exile,” said Rizzo. “The concept of exile no longer confines to a territory but to the self: exiling oneself from oneself. Melancholy, however, remains obligatory. Kerem manipulates the space on stage and lays down danced fragments such as haikus, sketches, or notes that, together, form a collection of thoughts born from movement.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Christian Rizzo made his artistic debut in Toulouse, where he formed a rock group and launched a fashion brand before undertaking training in the fine arts at Villa Arson in Nice. He effected an unexpected career transition in the 1990s, performing a number of contemporary choreographies throughout Europe, occasionally designing the soundtracks or costumes for these productions as well.

In 1996, he founded the association fragile, a platform to create performances, installations, solo and group dances, alongside other projects commissioned by opera, fashion and fine arts institutions. Some 40 productions have since taken shape, in addition to his educational activities. Christian Rizzo regularly teaches in art schools in France and abroad, as well as in entities dedicated to contemporary dance. In 2015, he took the helm of the Montpellier-Occitanie National Choreographic Center.

As a choreographer, visual artist or curator, Christian Rizzo tirelessly strives to represent the elasticity and tension between space and human bodies.