Birdwoman is born, lives, moves, plays and dances until she disappears again into another world. We are silent witnesses of an organism in constant transformation between object-animal-human. The performance invites us to expand our vision and to travel in a world that reminds us that the human body, nature and the dream world are inseparable.
In 2015 Rebecca Lenaerts began to collect bird feathers found on the ground, walking around the streets of Berlin. Collecting feathers turned into a ritual: first the washing, then drying and treating with cedar, then the storage. In 2018, with painstaking dedication, she starts sewing them one by one on a blanket creating a feather cloak. After nine months Birdwoman was born. In mythology she is the guardian between the human and the animal world.
Over time, the long-lasting "doing" of collecting and sewing feathers evolved into an inner search for gentleness and humility. The feather cloak becomes a tool for interdisciplinary collaborations and various artistic output; like the video Birth.
Recently the performance shifted from the black box towards a long-durational in public space, exploring the tension between the wild in the urban environment, between appearing and disappearing, between physical and imaginative realm.
Concept and performance Rebecca Lenaerts Creation feather cloak with assistance of Sonia Anicéto Movement and choreographic support Tijen Lawton Coproduction HETLAB Hasselt Photography Shana Boogers
With the support of Flanders State of the Art, Sabam for Culture, CC Strombeek, GC De Kriekelaar and PUSH+ (Creative Europe)
* Watch a teaser from Still a bird here: vimeo.com
* PerformingTheClub_ Birdwoman@Azimut Club Turin (April 2022): vimeo.com
* Still a bird@LaNature festival Luik (June 2024): vimeo.com
Still a bird, a ritual of becoming by Giulia Ottavia Frattini
clotmag.com/news/insight-still-a-bird-by-rebecca-lenaerts-a-ritual-of-becoming
Rebecca Lenaerts shares her creative process
15questions.net/interview/rebecca-lenaerts-her-creative-process
