ÉAÉDEM

Eaedem comes from the Latin plural feminine form deidem, “the same”.
The same gestures as a repetitive motif.
The similarity of the performers.
The same setting in which the women are often placed.
The same battle they often have to fight.

ÉAÉDEM is a contemporary dance duet based on a choreographic phrase of 14 movements. This strict base, this alphabet, will gradually open up, transforming the space around it, changing state, moving from confrontation to joy, from combat to disco, from ground to air. The mutation of the vocabulary transports the spectator from one zone of interpretation to another, ever more surprising. This concept allows choreographer Marie Gourdain to play on translations of meaning and interpretation of choreographic material, revealing the way in which we read the female body. Throughout the evolution of the piece, the two performers appear as different female representations: Vestals, Amazons, Pieta, Sisters, Adversaries, Disco Queens and many more…

What does this dance really say to me? And what does it say about me, my body, my femininity, the way I see and live myself? Having a twin sister, a duet of two women that I pushed into sameness and into a coded system opened up some profound questions. So I decided to make a new piece out of it. Where does this code come from? Why did I choose these 14 movements and what do they say? How can I create a set of interpretations, a method, the better to deconstruct and destroy it?
Marie Gourdain