Ofelia Jarl Ortega The Calling
weld, Stockholm
Dec 14-16, 2024
Ofelia Jarl Ortega, The Calling. Photo: Nadja Woorham
In a past interview we did with Ofelia Jarl Ortega, she spoke about being fortunate to be supported by a number of institutions, adding; ”I have a hard time trusting the support I get, but at the same time I feel I deserve a chance and a spot, like everyone else, and I tap myself on the shoulder saying “keep it up, Ofi”. The Calling is a co-production with Tanzhaus Zürich. That Ofelia Ortega Jarl is among the most prolific new generation choreographers gets evident reading up on her résumé and there’s something particularly refreshing about this production. Perhaps it’s a chimera to attribute it to her here working with the Swiss collective The Field rather than local performers one has seen before. But fact remains that ”the third body problem”, let’s call it such, at the core here, and three bodies navigating inherent dynamics offers plenty of gratuitous scope to pull from in choreography. But she makes some elegant choices that is marked by conviction to move beyond canon. 1:The Calling hardly ever relies on music to convey the narrative; instead transient vocal utterances and musings expressed shrewdly with facial theatre does plenty of the work. 1,5: On that note, The Calling is fine placing itself close around theatre. To say that contemporary relationships are competitions is almost as uncomfortable as saying that art is beyond its Kumbaya pretense, but then we also know what’s competitive about survival of the fittest, most attractive, most attracted, most resourceful. Ofelia Ortega Jarl and The Field chew on it, taking their time; nothing is hammered in; until it is.
Ofelia Jarl Ortega, The Calling. Photo: Nadja Woorham
The choreography itself spins humorously and neatly around tap dancing, ballet and jazz dance at times, more so than this trend of possessed exorcism, witchery and hyper-obsessed head banging, Żuławski-style, that has been noted much recently. The Calling is dramatic without ever needing to opt for over-the-topness. When an elegant metaphorical ode to bullfighting plays out; on its feet, The Calling moves and speeds along with featherweight, but ultimately is solid as a rock, if you know what I mean?
Ashik Zaman