«The nervous system does not lie. Only sometimes we don’t know how to read it.»
Matilde J Ciria
CONCEPT
Born through Lovecraft’s imaginary, Azatoth is known as the «blind idiot god». It is the most powerful entity in his mythology, for the entire universe exists only within its dreams. When its dream changes, the universe changes with it. For this reason, other gods soothed and controlled it with the music of cursed instruments.
For Matilde J. Ciria, Azatoth is the unknown of the body, of the mind. Azatoth is the matter from which emerge the identities that inhabit us, the nervous system in the raw.
In this piece improvisation is not only between body and sound — it is between the body and the whole audience. Attendees control the sound and the lighting in real time. The piece cannot exist without them, and no performance can resemble another.
Part of the Ciclo Danza Cruda.
GUEST ARTISTS
The audience as co-creator: attendees directly control the mental and emotional universe of the character on stage through sound and light, operated with several tablets at their disposal. They cease to be witnesses and become architects of the experience.
Evelyn Corvera and Jesús as guest assistants.
SYNOPSIS
A body at the centre. The universe of that body exists only in Azatoth’s dream — and Azatoth is you.
The spectators control its mind and its heart. They can induce states, change the rhythm, accelerate the disintegration or stop it. The body on stage responds in real time to what the audience creates.
As in a book, butoh is nothing but the audience’s illusion guided by a body that dehumanizes itself. In this performance, it is the audience who holds the power to turn the page.
ON IMPROVISATION
This piece does not exist before it begins. There is no score, no rehearsal, no possible repetition. What happens on stage is born from the real encounter between the artists in that specific space and moment — from mutual listening, from shared risk, from the presence of an audience that is also part of what happens. Each performance is a unique event that cannot be reproduced. What you see tonight has not existed before and will not exist afterward.
GALLERY
ARTISTIC CREDITS
Movement: Matilde J. Ciria
Mental control through technology: The audience
Associated workshop: ni.butoh: NEURAL DANCE
Jam: El Jardín de las Delicias — TDAH
Venue: Espacio en Blanco, C/ Mira el Sol 5-7, Madrid
Classification: Butoh / Performance / Improvisation