Interdisciplinary Project: Meg Stuart, April 2019

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.