In a dark time the eye begins to see

picture documentation

The laughter in the garden echoed ecstasy
Not lost but requiring, pointing to the agony
Of death and birth.
T.S. Elliot :: Four Quartets

The solo performance in a dark time the eye begins to see.. by Arianna Economou is of a ritualistic character attempting to portray the process in a person's life toward wholeness or individuation. The performance tries to convey this process by referring to the dialogue of heaven and earth, body and mind, matter and the immaterial, body and soul or earth and spirit with central focus the tranformative quality of nature's elements: FIRE.

The piece refers to many kind of fires: the heavenly fire, the ruler of light, the fire of frustrated desirousness, the fire of love (the divine and of eros), the inferno, the fire of creativity or inspiration. The performance uses poetry by T.S Elliot "Four Quartets" and poetry by Theodore Roethke.

At the beginning there was fire
Herakleitos

The genuineness or incorruptibility of the stone is proved by the torment of fire and cannot be attained without it...
Carl Jung :: Alchemical Studies

The end product of fire is the White Ash. The whitening phase. It signifies despair, mourning, or repentance. Ashes - wisdom - is the comforter in all psychic phenomena: where there is wisdom there is no bitterness and where there is bitterness there can be no wisdom.
Carl Jung

choreographer - dancer - texts and dramaturgy:

Arianna Economou

installation:

Horst Weierstall

styling:

Anita Michaelidis

live music:

Aude Marie Auphan :: cello
Nicolas Papageorgiou :: percussion

lighting and design:

Hany El Metennawy

sound recording:

Doros Poullis Digital Recordings

poetry:

T.S. Elliot :: Four quartets
Th. Roethke

production:

ECHO ARTS