Evie D and her superpowers in her dance solo performance Who Cares
Gothenburg Fringe 2024 in review: Who Cares by Evie Demetriou - written by Klara Eklund
When I sit down for a short chat with Evie Demetriou after the performance at Teater Trixter, I start to cry. Her dance performance went straight in and I'm floored. Maybe I'm unusually fragile and receptive to her strong story, but above all, she has communicated with all her might something I've really missed. A story of care and trust.
Evie manages to express so many recognisable figures and emotional states with her body in movements, voice, sound and breathing. She also manages to convey a serious story with a large amount of humour. It is an absolutely incomparable 45 minutes where Evie, in collaboration with dramaturg Guy Cools, condenses the difficult questions about care and, by extension, about the meaning of life. How and why do we care about ourselves and each other? Who will this physical body serve?
Evie Demitriou in Who Cares | Photo: Uros Hocevar
It is easy to recognise oneself in the forced shame of the female body's shortcomings according to the stereotypical and often male demands for sexual attractiveness. The audience gets to see all ages who live in a middle-aged woman, the courageous and unspoiled little girl, the exploratory and challenging young woman, the questioning aging and the Amazon woman, fearless with primordial forces taken from the depths of the sea.
The existence of the body is curiously explored and the woman of all her ages finds her very own strength and courage. Like a merciless tsunami from the bottom of the sea, she roars away to be able to go her own way, unchecked. The performance feels like a dizzying roller coaster and consists of cleverly, carefully communicated, just large enough bites of power and fine print expressions that land as shining impressions and insights.
Evie Demitriou in Who Cares | Photo: Uros Hocevar
Ashamed, I wipe away my tears and try to gather myself to ask a few questions. Evie looks at me calmly with her warm, strong eyes and asks if I want to take a break. She says that several of her friends have reacted in exactly the same way. She gives me comfort. She cares. She has managed to convey her strength and courage to stand up for herself and it gives a sense of hope. The fact that her friends and I start crying is also clear proof that she makes us feel. We care.
The sea is constantly present in Evie's life, she says, and recommends an underwater dance film she made together with her partner Antis Iakovou. They live near the sea in the coastal city of Limassol in Cyprus and are by and in the sea as much as they can. We compare it with Gothenburg's proximity to the sea and see that we share this physical and mental proximity to it, a wonder at the power it provides all year round.
Evie and Antis ask what it's like in Gothenburg in the winter. I tell them about the changes of the seasons, the cold, the wind and the uncharming horizontal rain, but also about winter swimming and how it feels like a hug from the sea when the body is surrounded by ice-cold water. They are immediately curious and I sincerely hope that they return to Gothenburg to experience it someday, perhaps at a future Winter Showcase of Gothenburg Fringe?
Evie Demitriou in Who Cares | Photo: Uros Hocevar
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