Held and Rocked - by Ria Girard

Description:
This work is inspired by readings of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body In the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk M.D..
My humanity is inseparable from yours. With this, we are bound.
We live in a world of crisis. Existing together, on a spectrum ranging from terror and trauma, to joy and love. This work touches on the potential of embracing, and swaying. It is an attempt to imagine harmonious futures inside of the chaotic nature of the human condition. An homage to the universal, primitive touch of care; to be cradled.
An exercise of empathy, and mindfulness; collective suffering and healing.
As we hold, we are held.

Premiered May 2023
Performed by ensemble of Staatstheater Augsburg
This choreography was created in collaboration with the performers.
Music edited by David Nigro.

Bio:
Ria Girard (she/her, 1995) is a FLINTA* performer and choreographer based in Germany. Trained in classical and contemporary dance at Arts Umbrella (Vancouver), she has worked professionally for over a decade across Germany, Italy, and Canada, including full-time contracts with Ballet BC, Theater Pforzheim, and Staatstheater Augsburg. Ria also engages in multidisciplinary work, combining movement with writing, and visual arts. Her practice is rooted in curiosity, collaboration, and a belief in the transformative power of performance. Leading with compassion and playfulness, she explores how movement fosters connection and supports her vision of a more just world.

Credits:
Giovanni Napoli (performer / m / Italian)
David Nigro (performer / m / Italian)
Afonso Pereira (performer / m / Portuguese)
Nikolaos Doede (performer / m / American)
Adrià Vilar Algueró (performer / m / Spanish)
Geivison Moreira (performer / m / Brazilian)
Martina Piacentino (performer / f / Italian)
Martina Di Giulio (performer / f / Italian)
Yeonjae Jeong (performer / f / Korean)
Chiara Zincone (performer / f / Italian)

Music:
Album: This Feeling is You
Artist: Jessica Boston, Desert
Songs: (Only small excerpts of the following tracks)
The Beginning
The Awakening
Negative - Minus - Less

Album: Cenizas
Artist: Nicolas Jaar
Song: Vanish

Album: Ora pro nobis
Artist: Tarta Relena
Song: Tou Votanikou

Album: TT / LOVE
Artist: Koreless
Song: LOVE

Album: Devotion
Artist: Tirzah
Song: Fine Again