A Study in Resilience

choreographic performance

A Study in Resilience reflects on the fragile balance between resilience and survival. Inspired by the words of Egyptian writer Anis Mansour — “We are moths circling your light. We do not burn, but we twist and turn” — the work was born out of two months of research in Egypt, as a sensitive response to the unwavering resilience of those involved.

The piece moves between deflagration and surrender, grasping and letting go, creating a cycle that invites us to confront the constant tension between strength and vulnerability. Through a system of repetitive actions, dysfunctional postures and heightened everyday gestures, the performance proposes a kind of resilience that does not seek answers but lays bare the question: what does it truly mean to endure?

“It is necessary to feel the resilience of others. What I carry with me from this time in Egypt is the unshakable strength and vulnerability of the people I met. The political doesn’t have to eat the intimate, and the intimate knows that its self-expression is political. It too can be a flood of feeling without having to be a statement.”

The work invites to explore the tensions that shape us, offering a contemplative reflection on what it means to exist fully, if only momentarily, within our own contradictions.

concept,choreography,direction|Tommaso Petrolo with|Passant Elsayed, Anton Fouad William music|Edward Doubleday, Tommaso Petrolo, John Wall, Steve Reich with the support of| YALLA Studio, British Council, Goethe Institut, CDN - Cairo Contemporary Dance Night year|2024 duration|30 minutes

Past dates. 02.12.2024 – Nehad Selaiha Theater, Cairo (EG) 04.12.2024 – Nehad Selaiha Theater, Cairo (EG) 08.12.2024 – Bibliotheca Alexandrina Theater, Alexandria (EG) 12.12.2024 – Jesuit Center, Minya (EG)