Dovydas Strimaitis (Lithuania, France) – HAIRY (PREMIERE)

Duration: 40 min.

HAIRY is a choreographic piece for 4 dancers and their hair. Hair is one of the few parts of the human body that one cannot move voluntarily and directly. Choreography and dance, on the other hand, can be seen as an art of physical (self-)control. Choreographing hair, thus, carries itself a dramatic tension – how to control the uncontrollable. This tension is the starting point of Hairy.

Because of its uncontrollable nature, hair can be seen as an entity separate from our body, yet dependent on it. HAIRY is a boundary, a limit both separating us from and connecting us to what is physically outside of us, what is not us. A choreography made for hair thus raises ontological questions related to our identity, our bodies and its autonomy.

Loose long hair has a very strong symbolic meaning in the Western society. It invokes freedom, romanticism, naturalness, and liberation from tradition or oppression. Strimaitis uses all these symbols as a formalist tool, in order to develop counterpoints not only in timing and space, but also in meaning.

Dovydas Strimaitis (b. 1997) is a Lithuanian contemporary dance artist, living and working between France and Belgium. At the age of 12, Strimaitis started training in various dance styles, including line dancing, show dance, and eventually contemporary dance. In 2015, he enrolled in a dance bachelor's degree program at Codarts (NL). From 2019 to 2022, Strimaitis was a dancer at The National Ballet of Marseille. 

Strimaitis first professional choreographed piece was his solo "The Art of Making Dances" that premiered in 2021 in Vilnius, Lithuania. In 2022, Strimaitis' 10-minute work "Hairy" was selected among 18 finalists in the competition “Danse élargie” organized by Théâtre de la Ville in Paris. The same year the choreographer premiered the 20-minute version of the piece. In 2023, Strimaitis premiered a 25-minute trio version of the piece, co-produced by the festival New Baltic Dance and Dance Biennale in Munich. This version was the last installation of shorter pieces created in preparation for the full-evening piece of “Hairy” set to premiere in 2024. 

Choreographer: Dovydas Strimaitis 

Interpreters: Benoit COUCHOT, Hanna-May Porlon, Lucrezia Nardone, et Line Branchereau 

Lighting designer and technical director: Lisa M. BARRY 

Composer: Julijona Biveinytė 

Production company: Still Waiting  

Production manager: Alix Ruyant 

Production company for Lithuania: Be kompanijos

Production manager for Lithuania: Domantė Tirylytė

Coproductions: New Baltic Dance Festival, Théâtre de la Ville, AMAT | Associazione Marchigiana Attività Teatrali; Montpellier Danse as part of the residency at the Agora, international dance city, with the support of the BNP Paribas Foundation

Supports: Tanzhaus Zurich, Compagnie Samuel Mathieu, French Institute in Lithuania with the support of Caisse des dépots sponsor

Photos: Nora Houguenade.