TROIS
or the Social Atom
or the Social Atom
The triad presents itself as the elementary figure of society, the “social atomic unit.”
A triad is not the sum of three individuals, nor is it the sum of three pairs. The difference lies in the nature of three - the logic is no longer simply mathematical because suddenly there are many possible social combinations, tensions, and complex relationships between the parts.
This is the starting point from which choreographer Julie Bour explores social relationships and human emotions in the age of virtual interaction. She confronts the cohesion and comfortable safety of a duet by the addition of a third person, thus creating a social nucleus that introduces new relations, shifts in power, interchange, and trust. Authenticity, solidarity, circulation, and interrelationships are a few of the many concepts that the new social configuration must redefine to regain balance in an inherently unstable situation.
For Julie Bour, the choice to leave the male/female dynamic out of the discussion represents a departure from the underlying implications of man-woman relationships so important in her earlier works. Her pointed choice of three females as her subjects rather than male/female is a means to focus all attention on interrelationships between women in a world which so often simplifies the implications and potential of female relationships. To discuss the feminine in humanity rather than to stubbornly defend the humanity in the feminine is the focus of her exploration.
...And throughout, the dance explores the topic of friendship which the choreographer considers a difficult concept to grasp -- always fugitive yet so deep, an ever-moving celebration of human connection.
In creating Trois, Julie Bour relied upon a terrestrial dance vocabulary - without echo or ornament - through which each dancer interprets and brings out her culture, her story, her body. The three dancers in the piece are individuals yet recognize and relate to each other’s singularity and autonomy.
TROIS - Pictures - New York 2010
