SunBengSitting

What is left of our roots when we choose to move far away? What is left of our country-side when we live in the city? What is left of our childhood, of our plans and big hopes when we have grown up? Created in 2014, this solo dance by Simon Mayer has been performed all over the world. His tender, amused and critical view of his childhood on an Austrian farm never fails to delight, because it is very funny, ironic and sincere, and because it is a work that is generous and detached in which the dancer immerses us in the folklore and customs of rural Austria. One gets a sense of the challenge of growing up in this environment weighted with traditions and nature, and the difficulty of freeing oneself from it. How does one construct an identity under such a weight? He examines how we deal with our roots, our aspirations, our acts of rebellion and our obstacles. It is accurate, cruel and highly amusing: the mirror he holds in front of us is uncompromising. There are traditional dances, a microphone, a chain saw, a tree trunk, a naked body in love with freedom, a violin and a yodels (Tyrolean singing). And there is also a bench, the wooden bench known as a sunbeng in High Austrian dialect, that is placed in front of the house and where one can sit in the sun. 

simonmayer.at