Varvara is an evening-length solo dance performance choreographed and performed by Jenna Riegel. A response to the life and art of Varvara Stepanova, the piece weaves together Riegel's world with Stepanova’s through an interplay of what is real and what is imagined. One of the prominent Russian Constructivist artists, Stepanova’s mediums include textiles, visual poetry, and costume and scenic designs.

Konstantin Rudnitsky wrote, “The human body was perceived as a machine: man had to learn to control that machine. It was the theatre’s function to demonstrate the fine-tuning of the human ‘mechanisms.’” Varvara tests this Constructivist theory of theatre’s function by observing the body’s reaction to considering it as mechanized and efficient versus allowing it to be chaotic and unpredictable.

The work runs approximately 45 minutes and is performed in two parts with no intermission. Part one hones in on stylized bodily control, emphasizing the angular and geometric lines seen in Stepanova’s artwork through technical virtuosity and an industrialized movement vocabulary. Part two breaks free from the constraints of this kind of Meyerholdian view of the body and unleashes a wild, circular, and destabilized approach to the performance.

For more information about the artist and performance, visit Motion State Arts

Motion State Arts is thrilled to present the only Rhode Island performance of this piece.