Bread Breath I Am

About the show:

Bread Breath I Am is about change – shifting your value system from who you were, without the knowledge of who you will be. It highlights different aspects of this change, such as anxiety, societal pressures, and the relentless search for emotional and physical balance. It emphasizes empowerment even amidst chaos and uncertainty. The lack of synchronization with the different stages in our lives and acceptance of who we are.

Menopause is a scattered process of losing and regaining power. Society has convinced us to perceive menopause in a negative light, seeing it as an unstable and a diminishing process.

This solo gives voice to the middle-aged woman navigating in this search for her new identity. Drawing inspiration from the alchemical process of baking, which begins with the seemingly disordered combination of different ingredients and becomes a harmonious whole as her journey unfolds. The sourdough fermentation; where the dough’s dense structure comes to life through the interaction of coexisting bacteria, fills the dough with air and gives it its new identity. The idea that true identity emerges from embracing ambiguity and chaos into a new stage of growth.

Bio:

Mati Elias is an Amsterdam-based interdisciplinary artist, former modern dancer and choreographer, working across performance, writing, and visual art. Her artistic background began in visual art, but her path has been multidisciplinary. Finding her voice in modern dance she spent over a decade working as a choreographer and dancer, presenting work internationally in cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin, and New York, supported by cultural grants and subsidies.

With motherhood Mati shifted her focus toward collaborative, community and education Art projects. During the pandemic she returned to her solo performance practice, reigniting her passion for performing and writing, including the text for this solo work. Mati works with an interdisciplinary language, combining movement, theatre and storytelling to create an intimate and unconventional form of storytelling that shapes the concept of her solo practice.

Credits:

Grainne Delanay — Dramaturg and writing coach
Uri Ivgi — Presentation