Beat of a Landscape
Performance, Ikaria
With this performance, in which dancers and visitors move to the rhythm of their heartbeat in the landscape of Ikaria, Nuyten and Petroula not only explore the heartbeat as an unconventional way of measuring time, but also the rhythm of the Greek island of Ikaria. During a residency in Ikaria, local Ikarians shared stories about their hidden way of life. In the 16th century, under Ottoman rule, Ikarians took refuge in the mountains to avoid pirate attacks. They built houses under large boulders and lived mostly at night. This lifestyle, focused on secrecy, acted as a defence mechanism, with hidden dwellings and a subsistence existence deeply rooted in values such as reciprocity, solidarity, empathy and respect. In this mountainous, invisible realm, Western conceptions of time decayed. Self-sufficient living enabled the inhabitants to follow their natural rhythms, rather than submit to a strict division of time imposed by clocks and calendars.
Courtesy: Artemis Studio, residents of Nas, Ikaria, Griekenland