4 september 2018 – 6 januari 2019

Dansmuseet – Museum of Dance and Movement, Stockholm

Text: Eva Lundqvist

Foto ~ photo: Lesley Leslie-Spinks

Ljus/form ~ light/design: Ilkka Volanen

Eva Lundqvist (f. 1951) har arbetat med dans i större delen av sitt liv. Dansens drivkraft förde henne till dansmetropolerna London och New York. I London arbetade hon med London Contemporary Dance Theater som turnerade runt om i världen. I New York studerade hon för koreografer som Merce Cunningham, Viola Faber och Dan Wagoner. Efter några lärorika år utomlands kom hon i kontakt med koreograf Birgit Åkesson som kom att bli hennes mentor. 1977 uppfördes Eva Lundqvists första verk och ensemblen, som döptes till Vindhäxor av koreograf Greta Lindholm, bildades tillsammans med dansarna Linda Forsman och Marzenna Kolesnik. I den här utställningen, Vindhäxor – ett levande väsen, vill Eva Lundqvist återge den magiska resa som det 40-åriga arbetet med dans har varit. Eva har skrivit texterna och även de dikter som ingår. Så här säger Eva Lundqvist om sitt arbete: ”Rörelsen är flyktig, lynnig, ständigt föränderlig, aldrig stilla. Rörelsen lever i oss oavbrutet. Vi följer dess föränderlighet, dess aldrig vilande ström, endast som ett redskap. Aldrig som dess betvingare.”

Eva Lundqvist (b. 1951) has worked with dance most of her life. The power of dance drove her to the dance metropolises London and New York. In London she worked with the London Contemporary Dance Theater that also toured around the world. In New York she studied for choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, Viola Faber and Dan Wagoner. After these formative years she came into contact with choreographer Birgit Åkesson who became her mentor. In 1977 Eva Lundqvist presented her first work and the group, Vindhäxor (Windwitches), named by choreographer Greta Lindholm, was formed together with the dancers Linda Forsman and Marzenna Kolesnik. In this exhibition, Windwitches – a living spirit, Eva Lundqvist would like to tell you about this magical journey that 40 years of work with dance has been. Eva has written all the texts to the exhibition and also the poems. Eva Lundqvist says this about her work: “Movement is elusive, capricious, constantly changing, never still. Movement lives in us always. We follow this fluctuation, use this restless stream, but only as an instrument, never as its master.”

Ilkka Volanen’s (b.1950) creativity has had a strong influence on the development of Finnish lighting and sound design. He has developed new solutions, new approaches and new forms of artistic expression. He has been among the first to produce a comprehensive lighting and sound artist job description, making for easier transitions between the technical demands of theater, dance, opera, film, independent light and sound art works. Ilkka Volanen has received the Finnish State Prize for Performing Arts, the city of Vantaa Artist Prize and he has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts (Theatre and Drama) at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki.

The photographer Lesley Leslie-Spinks (b. 1946) has documented dance and theater performances in Sweden and abroad since the early 1970´s. She met Eva Lundqvist and Ilkka Volanen in 1983 when they were working to transform an old garage into a dance theater soon to be known as the Glasshouse. Their vision has held her captive since. The photographs in Windwitches – a Living Spirit are taken by her, unless otherwise indicated. Lesley Leslie-Spinks was awarded the Carina Ari Medal in 2004 for her achievements in the field of dance photography.