Ondine Cloez Vacances vacance

When we go on holiday, what becomes of the place that we leave empty? The ever-watchful Ondine Cloez pays tribute to those moments when we are not really there but elsewhere. Those moments when we are next to, or outside of our bodies. In the course of this choreographic monologue, en route from discrepancy to diversion, absence gradually takes centre-stage.

Is it possible to go on holiday from our own body? Whether it is a matter of hypnosis, meditation, Near-Death Experiences, or even death, there are times when we are not where we are supposed to be. Ondine Cloez recounts her investigations, evokes the peyotl experience, the pebbles of Demosthenes and, putting all pretence aside, endeavours to do as she says: exit her own body. This quest leads to her carrying out a strange dance, the dance of grace, that state we find ourselves in when we are transcended by something which is beyond us, or outside of our own bodies - the art of absence. Vacances Vacance, the performer and choreographer’s debut piece, subverts all expectations of virtuosity, and turns the notion of grace inside out. Disconcerted, spectators are similarly invited to return to self and body.