Stabat Mater

A choreographic score designed to adapt and evolve with each dancer, space and setting.
Stabat Mater seeks to challenge the image of the Madonna as a unique expression of maternal purity and perfection, acknowledging the individuality yet universality of the experience of mothering, validating the everyday actions and maternal attitudes inherited and expressed by many women. The central solo draws on gestures and movement held in the physical memory, the images multiplying as they are performed by more dancers, embodying the commonalities yet uniqueness of the maternal experience for each woman. The myth of the perfect maternal state is transcended by the complexity, pleasure and conflict of the daily experience of being a mother. The project aims to spark conversation and sharing of experiences and viewpoints around mothering — a physical, visceral dialogue, in both performance and workshop settings.