Before the Name

Before the name is an investigation into Alain Badiou’s theory on the relationship between dance and thought, as considered in ‘Dance as a Metaphor for Thought’, (Dance as a Metaphor for Thought), part of the Petit manuel d’inesthétique written by the French philosopher in 1998 – (Handbook of Inaesthetics, A.Toscano trans., Stanford University Press., 2005). 

Banchelli organises a system of flux in a continuous crescendo, interlaced by the intense crossovers between dance and thought, thus creating a minimal multi-layered connection between the artists, thinkers and public. Via the intensity of the movement, the sound and the words, the happening questions the meaning of an ‘event’, where the participants’ connections generate a sequence of contingencies. 

Our desire to confront with the thought of one of the greatest living philosophers – who is at once present and absent – is then expressed through dance. During the performance, Badiou’s voice echoes in the space and his figure transforms into a sculptural presence, in accordance with the live music by composer Emiliano Zelada and the movements of the dancers Julie Cunningham and Harry Alexander. The symmetry between the texts by Jonathan Lahey Dronsfield and the bodies occupying the space is then cut by a non-narrative perspective, transforming the dialogue between the two into direct action.