LOÏE2
LOÏE2 is a solo performance, written, directed and performed by Judith Schrijver. The show was made during the Covid Pandemic and performed eventually in 2021. It started out as a graduation piece in 2018 about dancer and performer Loïe Fuller (1862-1928) called “Judith Speaks French”.
Synopsis
The main character immerses herself completely in her idol: Loïe Fuller, one of the most famous dancers from the Art Nouveau movement and a pioneer in the field of theatrical dance and lighting technology. She talks to her, identifies with her, is in love with her; from the moment she meets her, she only wants to see the world through her eyes. Yet something clashes, for as much as she is inspired by her idol’s feminist heroism, she discovers what it means to try to be someone else. Did she, because of her adoration, accidentally let herself be fitted with a new straitjacket?
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The Dress
Loïe Fuller and her wonderful silk dress continued to inspire Judith, and she decided to keep working on investigating her, along with costume designer Akelei Loos. Judith’s strong wish was to create a multidisciplinary art piece and emphasize the feminist aspect of Loïe Fuller’s work. They investigated female Art Nouveau artists and analyzed the different shapes and forms in visual art, as well as the feminist movements of that time.
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Building the Team
Since then, Judith has built a team of creatives around her.
Dancer Goda Zukauskaite,
Musician Luc Debuyser,
Light technician Cris Mollee,
Dramaturg Tjeerd Posthuma,
Productional Leader Lena Meijer,
and Business director Ezra Bredius
have joined the team along the way.
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Funding & Residency
This was followed by an intense period of creative collaboration, which was given an extra dimension by the pandemic.We set up a crowdfunding campaign and raised almost double the amount we wanted.The performance and research were financially supported by the ‘Voor Vrouwen Door Vrouwen’ Foundation (the performance is about a woman and the team consists mainly of women), as well as the “AFK” (Amsterdam Fund for the Arts), the Melanie Foundation, the Museum of Loss and Renewal and hundreds of donors through the crowdfunding.These contributions ensured that we were able to do an inspiring residency and do light and other visual research.
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Performing at Allard Pierson, Amsterdam
When Judith saw posters of the exhibition “Goddesses of Art Nouveau” hanging all over Amsterdam, it felt logical that our performance had to take place in the light of this exhibition.We now perform during October 2021 in the Allard Pierson Museum.The reactions are amazing.The show will be played in theatres in the Netherlands in January 2022 and since the performer is trilingual (Dutch, English and German), we are more than excited to see how Judith’s version of the Loïe Fuller story will develop internationally.
