All those things left behind, for now
Dear receiver, audience member, friend,
I’m sipping on my favourite green tea as I’m writing this letter to invite you, as personally and
intimately as possible, to my master graduation piece - a solo.
Did you know that, based on an already existing culture of personal autonomy, Swedish
politicians in the 1970's began to sketch a new vision of society? A vision that each individual
should be able to exist and live in social and economic independence from their relatives and
from each other. The concept of the independent individual has since then been embedded in the society, impacting the relational and affective dimensions of everyday life too. Having grown up and living in Sweden, this social project has touched me all my life. I have always struggled to assimilate its values and premises, experiencing disconnection, isolation and loneliness.
I disagree with giving such high value to the individual independence, because I don’t believe in it. I believe in relationality, meaning nobody, person nor thing exists in isolation, since to exist means to be in relationships. I believe we are all connected, all bodies - human bodies, non-human bodies, living and non-living ones. I believe our connection passes through energies, through the air we breathe, through visible and invisible spiralling pathways and forces. Through rhythms, waves, vibrations and last but not least, through touch. I see us as porous-leaking bodies floating under the same sky. And I think we need each other, maybe now more than ever.
I’m curious to engage in my own paradox; how could a research based on relationality,
backspaces and vulnerability take shape within a solo? Would it be possible to create a solo that is also a group piece?
So for this event, my MA graduation, I aim for a dance where several bodies take place in my
body. As if my body could be shaped by other bodies in the moment of dancing. A solo that takes a step back, shifts its focus from forward-oriented to backward-oriented. A vulnerable solo. A solo in which grief is taking place, honouring lost loved ones, as well as forgotten futures. A solo that deals with the present moment and the fact that everything is and will always be in the process of change. A solo that delves into all of this through dancing, because I believe in dancing.
And now, when my tea cup is almost empty and the leftovers cold, it’s time for us to share the
space in which this dance in this moment will happen. What if we lean back, exhale and put our hearts in our hands. Would we all feel connected then?
Warmly,
Matilda
Credits
Choreography, dance: Matilda Bilberg
Music: Sophie Vitelli
Light: Mali Dönmez
Objects and space: Matilda Bilberg with collaborators
Costume: Matilda Bilberg with collaborators
Supervision: caterina daniela mora jara, Anna Pehrsson, Siegmar Zacharias
Studio angel: Rebecka Berchtold
Illustration: Eliott Marmouset
Thanks to Jennifer Lacey, Hannah Krebs, Ekin Tunçeli, Linda Wardal, Ira Vuolle, Gergö D. Farkas, Zak Valenta, Vilma Mankonen, Marie Fahlin, Karin Hauptmann, Martin Sonderkamp, Chrysa Parkinson for being there side by side through the master programme, asking the right questions and cheering along the way.
Thanks to Peter Mills, Philip Berlin, Maria Teresa Tanzarella, Emeric Rabot, Nerea Gurrutxaga,
Jenna Hendry, Eleanor Bauer, Emma Rozgoni for engaging with your brilliancy in body, mind and
spirit.
And a special thanks to Bobbi, Ann-Marie Svensson, Nell Carlson, Lava, Göran Svensson, my
family and friends and all of you who in one or another way have been part of my two years in the
master programme.
Biography
Matilda Bilberg (Västerås 1994) freelances in the field of dance and choreography in Sweden and internationally. Since graduating the Swedish Ballet School in 2013, she has danced with and for choreographers such as Cristina Caprioli, Helena Franzén, Julia Kraus, David Zambrano, Satoshi Kudo, Live art collective MELO, Linda Forsman, Helena Davidsson Nordelius and Tove Skeidsvoll.
As well as in collaborations and collective processes such as with her own collective
UTOPISISTAS, with the composer Torbjörn Grass and the audiovisual artist Ionnalee.
Matilda's own choreographic works have been presented in theatres and festivals such as
Dansens Hus, Tanzhaus Zurich, Théâtre Sévelin 36, Bad Festival Bilbao, IDEA festival Jordan and KINANI Mozambique.
Together with her long-term collaborator Jenna Hendry they were selected as Aerowaves Artist 2021 with their work IUMI. In addition, Matilda also teaches dance to students and professionals and works with the group that curates the daily training for professional dancers and choreographers at Danscentrum Stockholm.
Sophie Vitelli (Perugia 1989) is a Swedish-Italian composer of electroacoustic music and artist based in Stockholm. In her youth she studied classical guitar and later went on to study art theory and directing (Central Saint Martins, London). Her interest in sound and music goes from specific aspects of the musical language to their conceptual and dramaturgical potentials. Primarily using a modular analogue synthesizer and plucked string instruments, she implements minimalist structures to explore emotion in states of stillness and fluctuation.
