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Time is out of joint. It resides in the body. True Random attempts to grasp the feeling of balancing on the edge of the abyss. Losing orientation. Losing the organization of the world. There is so much that matters in a life that is ruled by chance. It can be felt when the world is undergoing rapid transformation, and it serves as a reminder of how vulnerable we are, and how quickly everything can change. True Random is a performance where community and the poetic force of moving together are central, and where the meaningfulness of the randomness is explored.
In Marie Topp’s works, the audience is placed within emotions. 360 degrees. We are them. We see them. We feel them. We reflect on them. Universal emotions. You get sucked in.
True Random is the third piece in a series of performances exploring our personal, inner time in different phases of life. The experience of the passage of time is embodied through different formats, spaces, and temporalities.
The previous works in the series are The Labyrinth (2022) and Maze (2023). By following the architecture of the labyrinth, the logic of the maze, moving towards the concept of “True Random”, these choreographies invite the audience to reflect on life and existence in relation to the most fundamental movement: the passing of time.
The Danish Arts Foundation’s Award Committee for Performing Arts wrote that:
"The Labyrinth" from 2022 is a masterpiece that grips the audience in the gut and gives form to the essence of life."
Press Reviews
"Sometimes you see a work that reminds you of how fantastic art can be. In a way where you feel that the world opens up, everything comes alive again. Not because it is only nice to experience the work, but more because it strikes the deepest chords in the understanding or feeling of existing as a human being. For me, “The Labyrinth” by Marie Topp is such a work.” Karin Hald, Bastard Blog 2024
"Maybe that's how it is to live. Life in a nutshell, like essence. Impressions and expressions in association with the surroundings. “Maze” slows down and repeats again and again cyclical formations to challenge our own and the present tendency to run in one direction full of distractions along the way." Dorte Grannow Balslev about Maze, Iscene.dk 2024.
Artistic Collaboration
Marie Topp has closely collaborated with composer Julia Giertz, lighting designer Mårten K Axelsson, and dramaturg Igor Dobricic over the past 10 years. Together with various collaborators, they have created a series of choreographies, including Oceanic, Hail to the Good Listener, The Labyrinth, and Maze. Since 2019, their shared works have primarily been produced by Visible Effects, a platform for choreography.
About the Artistic Collaboration
"The music by Julia Giertz and the lighting design by Mårten K Axelsson. Music, light, and choreography are not merely woven together, but play together like a jazz band, giving space to each other as equal partners. There are layers of narrative that we cannot see, but sense as inner images and dream visions in a blend of movement and light." – Iscene.dk on The Labyrinth
Marie Topp
“To experience a billion years in one hour”, a reviewer wrote in 2021 describing a performance by Marie Topp. Her performances are characterized by their meditative and hypnotic effects on the viewer. By using slowness as a way to create hyper awareness and by building landscape-like scenarios on stage through the movements of dancers, sound and light, Topp is creating performances that hold potential for intense emotional journeys. Through artistic collaborations she makes performances that function as spaces of resonance that support sensorial encounters, embodied thinking, collective concentration and reflection.
Marie Topp has collaborated with artists such as Julia Giertz, Mårten K Axelsson, Igor Dobricic, Margret Sara Gudjonsdottir and Eric Andersen and others. She is associated artist at Milvus Artistic Research Center and has collaborated with organizations such as Dansehallerne, MDT Stockholm, MARC, Dansk Danseteater, Aaben Dans, Bora Bora, Inkonst, K3 Tanzplan Hamburg, Kampnagel, Inkonst, Atalante, Dansstationen. She was educated at The National School of Performing Arts in Danmark in 2009.
Mårten K Axelsson
Mårten K Axelsson is a lighting designer and scenographer. Educated from Statens Teaterskole 2009. Mårten has worked as a lighting designer both in Denmark and abroad. Among others at the Royal Theatre, Malmö Stadsteater, Aarhus Theatre, Folketeatret, Norrdans Härnösand, Den Jyske Opera, Odense Theatre, Kampnagel Hamburg, Schauspiel Frankfurt, Schauspiel Köln, Atalante, Dansehallerne, Aalborg Theatre.
Julia Giertz
Julia Giertz is a sound artist, her practice is based on physical and choreographic aspects of sound where synthesizers, manual and electronic filters and live coding become instruments and sound sculptures. Central to her practice are the long-term, close collaborations she shares with visual artists, sound artists and choreographers such as Marie Topp, Camilla Barratt-Due and Tarek Atoui. She has participated in concerts and works at The Venice Biennale, Sonic Acts, Unsound, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, MDT and Norrlands Opera amongst others. Since 2023, Giertz has been working as a studio engineer at Elektronmusikstudion (EMS) in Stockholm.
Credits
Choreography: Marie Topp
Music: Julia Giertz
Lightning Design: Mårten K Axelsson
Dramaturgy: Igor Dobricic
Developed and danced by: Karis Zidore, Snorre Elvin, Emilie Gregersen
Production: Visible Effects
Producer: Carlos Calvo
Photos: Christian Bang
Co-Production: Dansehallerne
Supported by: Statens Kunstfond, William Demant Fonden, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Beckett Fonden, Augustinus Fonden.
True Random is shown as part of the CPH STAGE program 2025.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Franciska Clausens Plads 27, 1799 Copenhagen, Denmark, Franciska Clausen Plads 27, 1799 København V, Danmark,Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Tickets
