Pauline Simon

©Darius Dolatyari Doladoust

The great hold up! (title in progress) stems from gender and social science research, taking the form of a choreographic and textile art solo, opening dialogue centred on the normativity of the male body and its misappropriation.

Based on a study concerning a male contraceptive garment that was marginalized and rejected by health institutions, the piece reflects on absent or peripheral contexts as sites for the power of transgression to be elicited by movement. Dance also becomes a catalyst for the reactions this garment produced in the eyes of society, playing on the fears it evokes: impotence, loss of virility, constraint.

Phases in the research will be shared throughout the creative process by way of workshops in art and fashion schools, or in contact with engaged non-profit sector publics committed to sexual health.

The great hold up! will premiere in June 2021 at the Buda KunstenCentrum in Kortrijk, Belgium.

Choreography and interpretation : Pauline Simon # Artistic assistant: Ana Rita Teodoro, Marion Henry # Consultant for the thematic of the project: Maxime Labrit # Costume: Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust # Scenography: Maureen Beguin and Daruis Dolatyari-Doladoust # Sound: Laurent Gérard # Lighting: Maureen Beguin # Thanks: Nitsan Margaliot # Production Administration: Vénus Castro.

Partners: Buda KunstenCentrum – Courtrai (residence, production, distribution), CCNO, Centre National Chorégraphique d’Orléans (residence, production) IFM-Institut Français de la Mode & CND Centre National de la Danse (Research workshop, production) DRAC Ile-de-France (project support), Charleroi Danse (production), Association Emmetrop, Bourges, (residence) Atelier 210, Bruxelles (textile residence, production, distribution) Centre de Wallonie Bruxelles, Paris (distribution)

Pauline Simon
is a choreographer, performer and academic researcher. Her choreographic approach is marked by transdisciplinary research (dance, visual arts, social sciences) in which dance acts as a vector in relation to a subject or a context, creating links between the intimate and the political. Her work goes beyond the purely choreographic field, uncovering new perspectives on the real. Trained in contemporary dance at the CNR in Lyon, the CNSMDP in Paris, and then at the CND (state diploma for teaching), she obtained a master’s degree at the EHESS in Paris in 2020.