out of sight, out of mind?

Concept: Lucia Mauri
Dance and development: Polina Kliuchnikova, Laura Gagliardi and Lucia Mauri
Music: Lorenzo Barone
Video: Sara Koniarek

Supported by: d.id - dance identity; Ariella Vidach aiep, IDA Bruckner University; Pesaro 2024

Special thanks to Rose Breuss, Laura Celli Volta, Marina Bertoni, Filippo Guglielmo Marra, Iris Heitzinger, Liz King, Constantin Georgescu and Jianan Qu


“I reflect on the look as a social bond between people and a form of non-verbal communication”
(“The power of the Gaze” Janne Seppänen)


"out of sight, out of mind?" is a sensorial journey that explores the delicate boundaries between the visible and the invisible, movement and stillness, sound and silence. At the heart of this artistic exploration lies the enigma of the gaze: a gaze that not only sees but also shapes, transforms, and sometimes erases.

The bodies of the dancers move in a continuum of appearances and disappearances, defying the laws of optics and human perception. Their presence is palpable, yet constantly escapes, wrapped in a play of light, images, shadows and presences, where immobility itself becomes a revolutionary act.

In out of sight, out of mind, each element is meticulously woven together to challenge the conventions of performance and observation. The result is a work that lives in the liminal, in that thin line between seeing and being seen, inviting all to reflect on the very meaning of presence, attention and being in the world.
Viewers are invited not only to observe but to actively participate in this dance of presence and absence. The spectator experience is thus transformed: from passive to participant, from external observer to integral component of the work. The audience's decisions, and their glances, become part of the choreography, in a continuous dialogue between 'stage' and 'audience'.
Music and video play crucial roles in this artistic fabric, acting as bridges between bodies and their shadows, between movement and stasis. Sound, now a subtle thread, now a bold protagonist, fills the empty spaces, those same spaces charged with expectation and possibility. The video, meanwhile, punctuates the rhythm of the experience, altering the spectator's temporal and spatial perception, and guiding the eye towards new dimensions of presence.