Exploring the relationship between dance and sculpture, Nerves Like Nylon (NLN) is based on the principle that a choreographic construction can trigger movement when it contains a certain degree of stillness.
Based on the sculptural paradoxes mentioned by Antony Gormley
‘stillness can express its opposite’
‘movement is best encouraged by a static object’,
my intention is to establish a choreographic paradox : NLN's stage scenery and choreographic construction, rather then evoking movement suggest, instead, its impossibility.
Emphasized by the light design, NLN sets off from a formal construction: choreographic motion is centred on the thorax and abdomen of three female dancers; the choreographic space is limited to a restricted area of action.
Partly inspired in Samuel Beckett’s text ‘Not I’, NLN is methodical, almost threatening “…imagine….imagine ...what position she was in...”

Choreography / direction Maria Ramos
Performers Benedetta Maxia, Lígia Teixeira, Sofia Dias
Original music Hugo Verweij (refrain: Bauhaus ‘Nerves’)
Light design in collaboration with Vinny Jones
Co-production DeVIR/CAPa
Residencies EIRA, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, CAPa/DeVIR
Supports Instituto Camões, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Construção Integrada lda., ArtEZ Institute of the Arts