Vilma Pitrinaitė (Lithuania/ Belgium ) – WHEN YOU’RE ALONE IN YOUR FOREST ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU’RE NOT ALONE
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Duration: 35 min.
Recommended age range 12+
ATTENTION. The performance includes loud sounds, flashing lights and smoke.
The performance is part of the Baltic Dance Platform programme.
This solo depicts the body in resistance and stands out as an immersive ritual of empowerment, a raw cry against the brutality of our times. Unexpected and unsettling, V. Pitrinaite connects the collective experience with the individual, bodily experience of resistance. The collective dimension emerges through a soundscape forged by the solitary live voice of the dancer multiplied like a human microphone used in contexts of collective anxiety. Driven by indignant voices rising one after another, a polyphonic song connected to Lithuanian resistance mouvement, «The brotherhood of the forest» fills the space and amplifies the individual power of one woman.
« (…) From the sound, to the movement, to the breath work, Vilma Pitrinaite attacks her work with a ferocity which is hard to capture with mediums that aren’t as tangible as the body. Her choreography is arresting, punching and thrusting towards herself in tireless cycles which dizzy even the audience. (…) Pitrinaite achieves more than many other pieces I have so far seen Fringe; a piece for a time where language feels unfruitful, this work hits at the emotional conquest which man takes upon himself against feelings of doubt and helplessness (…)» Marina Funcasta.
Vilma Pitrinaitė (LT/BE) studied choreography at CDC Toulouse, EX.E.R.CE Montpellier, and theatre directing at the Théâtre National in Strasbourg. She co-founded WE compagnie to explore new narrative and physical logics in contemporary performance—as a radical, subversive gesture questioning economic, hierarchical, and patriarchal systems.
Her first piece, “In Each Man There Are Two Who Dance”, merges a text by Russian dissident I. Viripaev with techno-infused “Swan Lake”. “Miss Lithuania” (Aerowaves’15) stages a Miss who speaks until language fails and the body completes the act.
“Somaholidays” explores nightlife rituals, while the “MATCH” trilogy dives into competition through grotesque expressions of ego. Her recent work focuses on the figure of the rebel—from humorous, rap-inspired solos (“It’s Not Your Dream”, LT Best Dancer Award 2021) to empowerment rituals reflecting resistance in Eastern Europe (“When You’re Alone in Your Forest…”).
She has also choreographed for major Lithuanian companies and performed with Philippe Grandrieux, Hubert Colas, cie Mossoux-Bonté, Karine Ponties, Mauro Paccagnella, Louise Vanneste.
Idea, choreography: Vilma Pitrinaitė
Performance: Vilma Pitrinaitė/Marija Ivaškevičiūtė
Sound: Elias Durnez
Scenography, Costumes: Elvita Brazdylytė
Light: Florian Gaillochon
Production: WE compagnie ASBL
Supported by: ILES/Artist Project and Šokančio ruonio kompanijaDistribution : Chiara Christoffersen/TONGTWIST,
Co-production: Les Brigittines, Lithuanian Council for Culture
With the support of: Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre Danse, Wallonie-Bruxelles International, Charleroi danse — Centre Chorégraphique Wallonie Bruxelles, Institut pour la Culture de Lituanie, Centre d’Information de Danse, Théâtre Kauno Kamerinis, Centre Culturel Jacques Franck, Garage 29, BUDA Kortrijk, Studio Le Labeur – Dame de Pic/Cie Karine Ponties, PDSW Pavilion Dance South West, projet TRIBUNE/ Kaunas-Luxembourg capitale européenne, TROIS C-L –Centre de Création Chorégraphique luxembourgeois. Vilma Pitrinaitė is accompanied by Grand Studio, Brussels
Photos by: Laurent Philippe, Jérôme van Belle – WBI
Website: https://vilmapitrinaite.com
The Baltic Dance Platform is a biennial event held in a different Baltic capital since 2019. It consistently and purposefully showcases contemporary dance from the Baltic region and its artists in both international and regional contexts. At the same time, the Baltic Dance Platform provides opportunities for collaboration among cultural professionals and the exchange of knowledge and experience. This year The Baltic Dance Platform will take place on April 22–25 in Vilnius.
Baltic Dance Platform organizers: Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, Latvian Dance Information Centre, Estonian Dance Performance and Development Center “Sõltumatu Tantsu Lava”
Partners: Contemporary Dance Association (Lithuania), Association of Choreographers (Latvia), Estonian Union of Dance Art and Dance Education
Supported by: Vilnius City Municipality, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture, Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia.
