Clay Bodies
TextClay Bodies (Study)
21&22 November, 2026
Playground Festival
M Museum, Leuven
Clay Bodies
5 December, 2026
December Dance Festival
Concertgebouw Bruges
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Earthly creatures are said to be born out of mud — pressed, hollowed, assembled. Prometheus fashioned humans from clay, animated by Athena’s breath. Pandora, the first mortal woman, was said to be formed in this way. How she came to symbolise the gendered sin of total destruction is another story. The vessel from which she released the evils of the world was not a box, but a pithos (πίθος): a large ceramic jar. Long associated with the human body in myth and burial rituals, the humble earthen jar suggests catastrophe not only as an external force, but as something intrinsic, released through human gesture, almost inevitable.
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Currently in creation, with a premiere in the automne, in Clay Bodies, raw clay and fired ceramic are used to generate movement, sound, and music. Kneading, striking, wearing, breaking: gestures that produce a vibration too persistent to ignore. Voices shift and tune into the rumble of destruction. Rather than illustrating Pandora, Clay Bodies stays with her condition — being made, being opened, being held responsible. The performance unfolds after the rupture, in a time when what has been released cannot be taken back, and the only thing that remains is the ongoing task of inhabiting the consequences.
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Concept, choreography, visual design: Ula Sickle
Creation, performance: Amanda Barrio Charmelo, Sophia Dinkel, Jose Funnel, Amina Szecsödy
Sound and lighting design: Ofer Smilansky
Ceramic objects: Maika Garnica, Ula Sickle
Costume design: Wang Consulting
Dramaturgy: Martin Zicari, Persis Bekkering
Archeologist and art historian: Savannah Marquardt
Coordination: Joëlle Laederach
Production: Outline
Co Production: Kanal / Centre Pompidou Brussels, Concertgebouw Bruges, Perpodium
With the support of Flemish Community, Tax shelter of the Belgian government