BRUJAS
(Israel)
Witchcraft dance music ritual
Witch, Feminist, Slut – Variations of the same definition, that aims to label and censor women. By owning these restrictions and working through them, we give new meaning to sexuality, sensuality and liberation. In a ritual of feminine energy, electronica, shamanism and spells, we celebrate and liberate ourselves from oppressive labels, and invite the witch/slut into society.
In this piece we explore women’s status in different cultures. We have found a common denominator that connects women who stand by their choices despite images and tags that society attaches to them, and who are willing to pay the price.
Throughout this project we use our bodies as expressive tools, embodying the very words that once oppressed us, converting them into our own personal language of movement. We began by extracting physical elements from tasks stereotypically associated with female labor, specifically cleaning floors. These extracted elements (repetition, floor based movement and feminine postures) became the basis for our ritual. Simultaneously we developed a language comprised of Gibberish whispering. While conjuring associations to witchcraft and mantra-prayer, using Gibberish allows us to create a universal channel that is not language or culture dependant, and allows meaning to emerge through energy and intention. While rituals are often performed with traditional drum and instrument circles have disappeared from modern culture. Into these primal elements of chanting and dance we introduce the modern age, by use of technological manipulation. In our piece, we bridge the ancient with the modern by using electronic music built entirely from samples of our own voices. Live manipulation of natural sound creates a symbiotic circle between body and music, directing our movement and at the same time being directed by it. This process represents dependence on technology and its integration into every aspect of modern life.
By incorporating these tools we create our witch-feminist-slut ritual. Inducing a shamanic state of trance stirs and invites ancestral feminine spirit onstage, while celebrating and liberating us from oppressive cultural structures, and inviting the witch/slut into social consensus offstage.
Throughout this project we use our bodies as expressive tools, embodying the very words that once oppressed us, converting them into our own personal language of movement. We began by extracting physical elements from tasks stereotypically associated with female labor, specifically cleaning floors. These extracted elements (repetition, floor based movement and feminine postures) became the basis for our ritual. Simultaneously we developed a language comprised of Gibberish whispering. While conjuring associations to witchcraft and mantra-prayer, using Gibberish allows us to create a universal channel that is not language or culture dependant, and allows meaning to emerge through energy and intention. While rituals are often performed with traditional drum and instrument circles have disappeared from modern culture. Into these primal elements of chanting and dance we introduce the modern age, by use of technological manipulation. In our piece, we bridge the ancient with the modern by using electronic music built entirely from samples of our own voices. Live manipulation of natural sound creates a symbiotic circle between body and music, directing our movement and at the same time being directed by it. This process represents dependence on technology and its integration into every aspect of modern life.
By incorporating these tools we create our witch-feminist-slut ritual. Inducing a shamanic state of trance stirs and invites ancestral feminine spirit onstage, while celebrating and liberating us from oppressive cultural structures, and inviting the witch/slut into social consensus offstage.