Queen Without Feathers

Performance, Amalgama Space, Athens 2022, with the support of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

“Others are compassionate.
 They warm you when you are cold, 
like tiles laid upon other tiles—
the warmth of small bodies
against a cold without end or beginning”.
Nikitas Siniossoglou
Having recently attended beekeeping classes, choreographer Maria Gorgia draws inspiration from the society of bees. In searching for the effortless togetherness—something we often interpret as a priori present in Nature, “to be together without thought, without pain,” as the gifted writer Nikitas Siniossoglou writes—the choreographer expresses her anxious desire for a human society in which care for the Other is not determined by Christian notions of virtue and compassion, nor by qualities such as discipline, fear, self-interest, or obedience. In the complex and well-organized society of bees, humans often recognize a wisdom of “co-existence,” where the multitude (the people) of worker bees, united, decide and govern the entire colony—even the queen, a being that here represents birth–life, love, unity, and the psychic calm of the whole. The body also holds particular significance among bees. The workers constantly care for the queen as she gives birth, through touch, feeding, caressing, and even kissing. The bodies of the swarm regulate the temperature inside the hive by moving closer to or farther from one another. The hive is always united and functions as a single whole.
“Do not manipulate things, but flow with them.
 Do nothing, yet let everything take hold of you—
the space, the others, the self within you
 that seems anesthetized”.
Nikitas Siniossoglou
With the new work “Queen Without Feathers”, choreographer Maria Gorgia and the Amalgama dance company continue their exploration of a “holistic” model of expression—that is, the synthesis of movement, speech, object, and voice. The performers interpret creatively through movement, speech, and song, drawing inspiration from the delicate kinetic, sonic, and communicative behaviors of the beehive. Within this complex composition, the choreographer repeatedly introduces contrasting images—images of today’s chaotic human coexistence, such as forms of human “togetherness” within the Family, at Work, in Public Life, in Parliament, and elsewhere. The main body of texts was created specifically for this work by the award-winning writer Nikitas Siniossoglou. Concept / Choreography / Direction / Dramaturgy: Maria Gorgia, Lighting Design: Periklis Mathiellis, Set & Costumes: Konstantinos Zamanis, Original Text: Nikitas Siniossoglou
, Prose Texts: Maria Gorgia and the company, Music: Mahler, “Adagietto” (Symphony No. 5), Brahms: “Piano Concerto No. 1”, Mozart: “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, Music Curation: Maria Gorgia, Stavros Apostolatos, Performers: Themis Andreoulaki, Alexandros Zarmakoupis, Arianna Zarmakoupi, Zoi Mastrotheodorou, Myrsini Petroutsou, Spoken Text Coaching: Angeliki Karystinou, 
Production Assistant: Marialena Stefanidi, Press & Communication: Maria Konstantopoulou
, Photography: Angeliki Svoronou, Vangelis Angelakis, Giorgos Marinakis.