MIKS
(2005-2011)
MIKS
2005-2011
In 2005 Sara co-founded London based MIKS Dance Theatre together with artists Anais Bouts and Ida Uvaas, as a common ground for artists to create work collaboratively and as a way to challenge and experiment with conventional ideas about ownership and style in theatre and choreography. With MIKS she created Only On Mondays (2007), the trilogy n+ (2008), We're Working On It (2009) and [FEVER] (2009). The company was active between the years 2005-2011.
MIKS was active with the support and funding from Arts Council England, and as associate company with Laban Theatre and Company in residence at Greenwich Dance.
"We’re Working On It", 2009
We’re Working On It is a durational performance installation, displaying a collection of performative situations involving text, bodies, a loop sampler and hundreds of red balloons. The material derives from 25 performance artists’ responses to a questionnaire concerning their art practice and relations between art and life.
Performed and devised by:
Sara Lindström, Ida Uvaas and Anais Bouts
Performance dates:
Not Simply Dancing 20 June 2009, Greenwich Dance, London.
NyNorskDans 22-24 January 2010, Dansens Hus in Oslo, Norway.
LOCATE Dance Festival 24 July 2010, Richmond, London.
The Stage That Wasn’t There’, 11 September 2010, event curated by Risk:Reclaim:Entertain at Københavns Musikteater, Copenhagen, Denmark.
STOFF, Stockholm Fringe Festival, 7-10 October 2010, Sweden.
Home Made Festival at Chisenhale Dance Space, 27-28 November 2010, London.
As an audience member you start thinking about your own life, the lives of the performers and then eventually everyone’s lives.” Audience member
“After a while, the substance of the answers and the externally objective, but internally sensitive presence of the performers start resonating.” Audience member .
“A talent to watch!” Time Out London
Commission by Greenwich Dance
"FEVER", 2009
7 artists, 5 pieces, 1 song.
With a focus on interpretation and translation, MIKS invited four dance artists from different parts of Europe to challenge their creative process and share a common song track as a springboard for creation. [FEVER] is the result of their collaboration: 5 individual responses to a single starting point; 5 cover versions, with performance as their medium of expression.
Curators: MIKS
Choreographers/performers:
Anaïs Bouts, Sara Lindström, Valeria Primost, Nicholas Quinn, Marie-Louise Stentebjerg, Christian Ubl, Ida Uvaas
Lighting designer: Fay Patterson
Rehearsal director: Pauline Huguet
Costume designer: Russell Harris
Music: Laurie Anderson, Marcos Baggiani, Fabrice Cattalano, Peggy Lee
Performance dates:
11 June 2010: Rich Mix, London
8 June 2010: Arc Theatre, Stockton on Tees
28 January 2010: Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton
19 November 2009: Croydon Clocktower, London
11-12 November 2009: Laban Theatre, London
Commissioned by Laban and Greenwich Dance, funded by Arts Council England
"n+ Triple bill" , 2008
n+ is a triple bill based on the old parlour game Chinese Whispers. MIKS created n+1. They handed it over to Frauke Requardt to interpret, comment on and re-create it in her own way. She created n+2 before passing it on to Athina Vahla to create n+3. The whole process results in three distinct but awkwardly similar pieces, each of them showing the individuality of the choreographers alongside the best of MIKS' performers.
n+1 - by MIKS
[An empty theatre... People enter. Dimmed lights show the way. You walk along the aisles, find a place, sit down and settle until the lights go off completely. Silence...]
By exploring the possibilities and expectations of the elements that conform a dance performance, n+1 attempts to find out - through a trial and error approach - how much can be said in between the lines, in between movement and contemplation.
The creation of n+1 was supported by DarkRoom residency in collaboration with Danswerkhus, Hoger Instituut voor Dans (Belgium), Casina Settarte (Italy), and Chisenhale Dance Space (London).
Choreography: MIKS
Performers: Anaïs Bouts, Sara Lindström, Ida Uvaas
Dramaturge: Rodrigo Valero-Puertas
Music: Elvis Presley, Tom Waits, Max Toundra
n+2 ‘Flappers’ - by Frauke Requardt
Transcending into one character's lifetime, the ethereal hysteria of Flappers distinguishes no past, present or future.
Choreography: Frauke Requardt
Performers: Anaïs Bouts, Sara Lindström, Ida Uvaas
Music: John Zorn
n+3 ‘Objects Of Friction And Fact’ - by Athina Vahla
The work partly draws its inspiration from Kurt Vonnegut’s book, A man without a country. Using the mythological element of the triad and constructing a fictional hermetic world, it attempts a voice in response to the present state of our civilization.
Choreographer: Athina Vahla
Performers: Anaïs Bouts, Sara Lindström, Ida Uvaas
Music: Bas Vellekoop and The Third Eye Foundation
Performance dates:
13 March 2009: Quake09, Deda, Derby
5 December 2008: gDA Cabaret, London
29 October 2008: Michaelis Theatre, Roehampton, London
27 October 2008: Teatre3, Stockholm
23-24 October 2008: Atalante Theatre, Gothenborg
20 October 2008: Nottdance Festival, Nottingham
18 October 2008: Richmond Cabaret, London
9 October 2008: Laban Theatre, London
9 August 2008: The Open Space, Siobhan Davies Studios, London
5 July 2008: Cloud Dance Festival, Courtyard Theatre, London
6 June 2008: event curated by MIKS, Chisenhale Dance Space, London
22 February 2008: Resolution!, The Place, London
6-7 November 2007: Monty Theatre, Antwerp (Belgium)
Reviews:
“It sounds like a back-handed compliment to say the most compelling part of n+1 by MIKS came after it had theoretically finished, but fair play to this punchy trio for eschewing their round of applause in favour of dismantling the concept of the interval. As they continued jogging and mock sparring on the spot long, long after the lights had dimmed, the audience frittered into confusion - which was presumably the point. It made for a suitably random conclusion to a piece which flirted with the idea of deconstructing the parameters of performance, but which never quite forgot its manners.”
Keith Watson Resolution! 2008
“Another experiment: n+1 investigates our expectations of dance performance. In primary-coloured gym kits and boxing gloves, three female dancers exude the fearsome playfulness of school sports day. They test the need for space, sound and light. MIKS save the best for last: as the pounding soundtrack fades, the trio jog on the spot. The houselights come up, and they jog on. Tentative applause rises spasmodically from the audience; the trio jog on. And on, and on. A confused audience murmurs, some give up and head for the bar. Undeterred, MIKS continue their static marathon. Finally, to resounding (and relieved) applause, they turn in unison, and jog off. This confidently sustained finale coerces the audience into participating in their experiment. Provocative and diverting work.”
Kate Larsen Resolution! 2008
