Le Mains de I’Argentière

Djalma Primordial Science

France

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The intimacy of a sickroom. A bed covered in white clay. A petrified place, steeped in silence, like time halted in time. A dancer and an accordion player take turns to embody different figures, travellers between epochs. States of consciousness change fluidly, like the convoluted activity of a nervous system trying to reconnect. Les Mains de l’Argentière blurs the line between dance and theatre, showing anonymous portraits of patients gradually recovering from long periods of coma and their sublime states of being; in short, the awakening of humanity.

Djalma Primordial Science was founded in 1998 by dancer and choreographer Ephia Gburek and experimental musician Jeff Gburek. Their productions are delicate and unsettling works that blur the boundaries between theatre, dance and performance. Djalma, a Javanese word for metamorphosis, emphasizes the transformability and instability of the body. Ephia Gburek is particularly interested in a physical presence derived from physical instability, weakness and vulnerability. The resulting hypnotic, dreamlike effect on the audience is further enhanced by Vincent Valente's musical improvisations on the accordion.