The Endless Pace (variation for 60 dancers), 2009

Davide Balula - Paris, France

Performance Art

The Endless Pace (variation for 60 dancers) is a performance involving 60 dancers, wherein the movements of the dancers materialize the passage of time. The dancers are aligned on the periphery of a circle, sitting and facing outwards. They become the face of a clock. Over the course of 12 hours, for the entire duration of Nuit Blanche, the dancers mimic the rotation of the second, minute and hour hands. The mechanical movements are translated into human movements. The second hand passes through the dancers in, appropriately, seconds. The minute hand becomes a 60 second dance solo (movements are choreographed by collaborator Biba Bell). This human clock marks an hour's passing, upon its end it begins anew, tracing the path of the following hour. The endlessness alluded to in the work's title lies in this hourly repetition. And also in the fact that time cannot be circumvented, it is relentless. We have to endure its infinite duration. To dance time literally enables us to enter time, to embody its moves and to pace ourselves within its tenacious grasp. From within we can perhaps do without and cause time to slip and slide. Through dance, the seconds become fluid, the minutes become unique moments. Human time.

Davide Balula is made of wood, radio waves, ceramic, explosion lights, paint, second-hand organs, nylon, marble dust, aluminium, different gazes, paper, plaster, actions, and other warm fluids. Davide Balula grew up in the Portuguese mountains in the early 80s before moving to the French Alps where he studied electro-acoustic music. He then started to work with sculpture in Paris. His work can be experienced in various venues such as Museums Quartier, Vienna; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and many other locations.

Suitable for all ages

In association with the Departments of Dance and Theatre, Faculty of Fine Arts, York University