FORECASTING

a dramaturgical-choreographic series for a laptop and the human body

1er stratagème and De facto, 2011

Running time 45 minutes without intermission.

Authors: Giuseppe Chico, Barbara Matijević
Performer: Barbara Matijević
Video designer: Giuseppe Chico
Sound designer: Viktor Krasnic
Patch Max: Niccolo Gallio

Production: Kaaitheater (Brussels)
Co-production: UOVO (Milan)
Executive producer: 1er stratagème and De facto
With support from DRAC Ile de France, Croatian Ministry of Culture, the City of Zagreb, the French Institute, Beaumarchais SACD association, PACT Zollverein (Essen) and Caos/Festival Terni (residency program)
The performance is in English.

Thanks to Marie Roche/Grand Ensemble for her collaboration and Rostan Chentouf for his project management.

FORECASTING is based on a collection of amateur videos taken from the largest video-sharing website, YouTube. The piece delves into the process of watching videos by reducing it to its essential: a body and a screen. On an empty stage, a performer manipulates a laptop showing hundreds of videos posted by YouTube amateurs: food lovers, gun fans, fitness buffs, DIY enthusiasts, gardeners, as well as contemplative walks, intimate confessions, and playful moments with pets.

Video images have been selected to match the human scale, allowing the screen to be used as both a mask and an extension of the performer, who also complements the videos with her voice, further blurring the limits between herself and the incessant flow of the Web.

Through this hybrid experience FORECASTING gradually turns into a story of all stories, an on-stage presentation of our on-line lives, a poetic sketch of the influence that digital tools play in the narration of the Self, and the collective construction of the Imaginary.

FORECASTING was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 56th edition of the Mess Festival in Sarajevo.

 
Barbara Matijević studied languages and literature in parallel with dance and acting in Zagreb (Croatia). Her work takes forms of theatre or dance performances, lecture-performances, radio plays, group choreographies, photo exhibitions, and installations. As a dancer and an actress, she has collaborated with choreographers and theatre directors in France, Croatia, Slovenia, and Belgium (Boris Charmatz, Joris Lacoste, Bojan Jablanovec). She has taught at Osijek Art Academy, Zagreb Dance Academy, Helsinki Academy of Fine Arts and Lasalle College in Singapore. She is based in Paris and works internationally.

Giuseppe Chico started acting at the age of 10, taking lessons with the Abeliano company under the direction of Tina Tempesta. He then deepened this practice at the Kismet Theater with Robert McNeer and also collaborated as a scenographer with Paolo Baroni. After studying theatre in Rome and Milan, his interest in dance and dramaturgical composition led him to live in Paris. As a performer he has collaborated with Mille Plateaux Associés, George Appaix and Joris Lacoste. Since 2008 he has been collaborating with Barbara Matijević.