- Giselle, or I'm too Horny to be a prince
- The Balkean Game
- Pride London's Big Dance
- Dying Swan with David Hoyle
- Batty Boys
- Age Gap
classical ballet and sadomasochism...
Giselle, or i’m too Horny to be a Prince is a 50 minute live art solo that draws on my background and experience as a ballet dancer. It is a pas de trois between me, my favourite pair of sleazy black boots and the ballet tights I have come to despise. It charts one final attempt at classical form, an uneasy relationship with sexuality and submission, a chiffon-attired crisis of masculinity, a distaste for dance kit and a masochistic endurance test. et to the original Giselle score the piece is an autobiographical collage told through images, kink, ballet, spoken text and exhaustion. Funny, touching, embarrassing and engaging, this piece sheds a whole new light on the trials and tribulations of trying to be a prince.
Giselle is co-produced by Clara Giraud and the Chisenhale Dance Space (where it previewed on May 7, 2010).
This piece is available for programming as of Autumn 2010. View trailer
For upcoming performance dates please see events.
Here's to you, Jean Genet...
‘I was no longer an adulteress to be stoned, but an object employed in a rite of love. I desired that they would spit at me more with thicker viscosities.’
- Jean Genet in Miracle of the Rose
The Balkaen Game is an installation/arcade game in which the audience is given three attempts to spit into the mouth of a naked man.
The game premiered at Act Art 8 in July 2010 and is now available for future programming.
a jazz-ersize tribute ...
Commissioned as a collaboration for Pride London and Big Dance, this was a jazz-ersize tribute to the accomplishments of the gay liberation front and was performed by over 15,000 people in Trafalgar square at Pride 2010.
For a link of the promotional video please click here
For a video of the dance, dance by thousands in Trafalgar Square, click here
The Dying Swan at Licking Wounds: a masochistic installation ...
The Dying Swan at Licking Wounds: a masochistic installation in collaboration with the incomparable David Hoyle. As I danced the dying Swan, David painted my portrait. But when David felt he was being upstaged, things took a nasty turn. As the ‘subject’ of David’s beautiful and violent painting, I was required to stay en pointe for the duration of the performance.
Performed at David Hoyle’s ‘Licking Wounds’ at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in June 2010.
A short duet created in collaboration with David Murley and Dinah Mullen...
A short duet created in collaboration with David Murley and sound designer Dinah Mullen. It is a camp, playful and balletic reflection on modes of homophobia and was unveiled at the Big Dance Pride Picnic in Vauxhall.
Age Gap was a duet for two gay men of different ages...
Commissioned by the Chisenhale Dance Space for the Homelands Dance Festival
Supported by the Borough of Tower Hamlets
Age Gap was a duet for two gay men of different ages, both of whom had never performed onstage before. The piece was a 'dialogue' between the two men about age, sexaulity and dance.
- Perverts!
- Three Ladies, Three Whores...and an Uninvited Guest
- Cruising, Clubbing and Fucking
Shouldn’t it be possible to grant everyone sexual autonomy ...
‘Shouldn’t it be possible to grant everyone sexual autonomy in a way consistent with everyone else’s sexual autonomy?’
- Michael Warner, The Trouble With Normal
Perverts! is a politically charged, highly physical and occasionally hilarious dance theatre piece celebrating perversion, sexuality and anything that reminds us how boring being ‘normal’ can be
Perverts! premiered in montreal and was also performed at Act Art 2009 in London. View trailer
Three Ladies, Three Whores...and an Uninvited Guest is a non-verbal piece introducing three women struggling ...
Presented at The Rich Mix, The Arcola Theatre, The Edinburgh Fringe and The Space (London)Three Ladies, Three Whores...and an Uninvited Guest was a non-verbal piece introducing three women struggling to be 'ladies', but failing outrageously in that task. Blending pop and classical music, a concise and colourful design, and a stunning physical language, it addressed the complexity of femininity. With a dark sense of humour, it touched upon issues such as body image, eating disorders, and sexuality. View trailer
Cruising, Clubbing and Fucking was inspired by a concern at the growing normalisation ...
Presented at the International Workshop FestivalCruising, Clubbing and Fucking was inspired by a concern at the growing normalisation and desexualisation of homosexuality in the wake of civil partnerships for gay men. With promiscuity increasingly criticised within gay culture, we have chosen to look at the positive consequences of sex with strangers as a way for gay men to meet and make important personal connections: boyfriends, friends, partners, one-night stands and other, less definable relationships.
Copyright © 2010 Joseph Mercier
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