STEVEN COHEN
National Art Festival Featured Artist 2018 Courtesy of Stevenson Gallery All Photos: Pierre Planchenault www.stevenson.info
P
ut your heart under your feet...and walk to Elu is an intense meditation on loss, grief and absence, following the death of Cohen’s partner and artistic collaborator, the choreographer Elu.
The work first came into being as a performance piece, which debuted at the Montpellier Danse festival in June 2017. The work was later shown as an exhibition at Stevenson Johannesburg before being performed at the last edition of Dance Umbrella. This is Cohen’s first performance at the National Arts Festival since his 2012 performance of Cradle of Humankind. The performance comprises of Cohen interacting with projected footage and an installation of sculptural objects. A myriad pointe shoes – among them Elu’s, literally invoking his absence – are collaged together with found objects.
Stills from Cohen’s performance piece “Put your heart under your feet ... and walk! 26
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