’in a corner the sky surrenders Robyn Orlin

On the corner of a street, when someone’s life is turned upside-down and the sky loses control… Robyn Orlin’s founding solo, first performed in New York in a cardboard box, is the subject of a revival by a vibrant, gifted performer. It provides audiences with the opportunity to discover a lesser-known side of this rebellious, frequently outrageous choreographer’s work. 

In 1994, Robyn Orlin, a recent graduate in dramatic and visual arts at the Art Institute of Chicago, decided to spend a few months in New York. Struck by the presence of homeless people she encountered on Lower East Side, she devised a show, dedicated to them, which was performed inside an empty cardboard box for a refrigerator. Mixing actions, movements and dance with her « Fourth Dimension » studies in art in Chicago, the piece was a turning point in terms of her onstage work. Indeed, in a corner… remained present in the recesses of her mind, only to suddenly reappear during the period of self-isolation in 2020 - symbolic, perhaps, of a switch to survival mode. The idea came to her of passing on this act of aesthetic disobedience to the dancer and choreographer, Nadia Beugré. The latter embodies the spirit of rebellion and energy that characterised the young Robyn Orlin.

Photo : © Antoine Tempé