Michaela Stará: Imelda
WHAT DO WOMEN TALK ABOUT WHEN THEY TALK WITH THEIR FEET?
We all have our own personal relationship with shoes. We all look for just the right size, height, color and shape, but it’s never exactly what we wanted. We want more friends, likes, tee-shirts, sweatshirts, bags, and shoes, because there is a little Imelda hiding in all of us. Imelda is of course Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines, who had nearly three thousand pairs of shoes in her collection.
Collecting and hoarding serve as a metaphor for today’s consumer society and provide the primary inspiration for this performance. This thesis project was inspired by the chapter on Imelda Syndrome in Paola Jacobbi’s book I want Those Shoes!
Mime theater showcasing elements of street dance based on a musical and visual experience.
Written and performed by: Michaela Stará
Directed by: Radim Vizváry
Music: Petr Kolman, Vojtěch Bor
Light design: Karel Šimek
Costumes: Simona Drábová (Verlyba)
Stage design and props: Jakub Fistung, Můj Děda
Production: Ilona Hájková
Acknowledgements: Monika Vavrušková, Vendula Papírníková, Martina Podolská, Kateřina Stará, Jana Stará, Fantasy Dance Studio, Botovna, Kateřina Bonušová, Ondřej Holba
This performance was created with support from HAMU and Nadace Život Umělce.
About Michaela Stará…
Michaela was first introduced to dance through sport aerobics and modern gymnastics. In 2007 she became a member of the Fantasy Dance Studio, where she took part in several team competitions at the national level. In 2014 she won the Czech Dance Masters competition in the Street Show Dance category with her choreography of The Line.
From 2011 – 2015 she taught a group of children aged 8 – 12 with whom she won a gold medal in the Hip-Hop category.
She has participated in several Street Dance Crewbattles such as K.O battle, Semtex Cup, and others.
In 2014 she began studying at the HAMU Faculty of Non-Verbal Theater, where she has devoted herself to pantomime, physical theater, acting and acrobatics. Dance remains her inspiration, however, and she strives to combine this passion with pantomime and physical theater.
During her studies she has created her own solo etudes (My Dva, BANG) that infuse pantomime with street dance. She has presented these works at several events and festivals including Cirk – UFF, Komedianti v ulicích, Letní Letná, Mime Fest, Festival PAN, My Mime, and others.
She has also gained theatrical experience by taking part in other projects such as Věc: meziplanetární clownerie(Re: Interplanetary Clowning), or an opera with pantomime Anne, beze strachu hledět na nebe(Anne, Don’t Be Afraid to Look to the Heavens).She has also performed in several site specific projects:Proč dál(Why Continue) (SpielraumKollektiv), Psychomachia – festival KULT (Tantehorse) and appeared in the performance ofModrý pták(Blue Bird) at the Estates Theater.
PERFORMANCES