Scream of the Butterfly

Scream of the Butterfly marked an early turning point in the practice, addressing themes of vulnerability, violence and resistance from a feminist perspective.
The work approached domestic violence indirectly, choosing sound, physical action and material interaction over spoken language or narrative.

Amplified footsteps, a red tule that is screaming, the cracking presence of eggshells placed beneath the performer’s back during a floor-based solo, and the friction between body and surface functioned as choreographic agents rather than symbolic props. These elements produced an embodied and acoustic experience in which tension, fragility and pressure became perceptible without being named.
In doing so, the piece shifted the focus away from the body as the sole expressive subject and toward a posthuman constellation, where sound, matter and force actively co-authored the performative experience.

Elles Grzybek and Michael Lazic researched how they could stage the wide impact of domestic violence, and in particular towards women, with different non-human voices and actors. They wanted to tell the story from a non-narrative point of view, when words are silenced, and the body reacts against screaming objects.

 

The central scenographical actor is a 60cm square plastic cube that serves as a dramatic, multi-layered functional tool, holding comfort and safety, yet also limitations and imprisonment. The box expresses different emotions, such as tension, anger, and fear, and various reactions, including hiding, freezing, and touching.