Archive of The Singing of the Sirens

Arts and performing arts, Dance pieces photography, Performing Arts Photography

#Dance #Giovanni Ambrosio #Heli Keskikallio #Performing Arts

Building The Singing of the Sirens Performance Photography Archive

The Singing of the Sirens is a song, a whisper, and a shout on behalf of silenced voices. It opens up an ambivalent landscape echoing with femininity, where whispering, singing, laughing, screaming, panting, humming, and wavy bodies create resonant, vibrating, tactile, spatial, and transforming soundscapes. These images were taken in Helsinki during different stages of the performance process at Omapohja-Stage. The collaboration with Keskikallio and the group allowed for a photographic approach that is situated, participatory, and attuned to the temporal and material dimensions of the work. This archive is part of my broader research into the visual documentation of performance: photography as a practice of proximity, resonance, and critical care.

ARTISTs: Heli Keskikallio and Sirens Working Group
Piece: The Singing of the Sirens
Omapohja-Stage Helsinki 4-12 October 2024
Photographer: GIOVANNI AMBROSIO

#Dance #Giovanni Ambrosio #Heli Keskikallio #Performing Arts

This is the first part of my photographic archive dedicated to The Singing of the Sirens on stage, while the documentation of the whole creation process started in 2023. These images are not simply documents but part of an ongoing investigation into how photography can performatively engage with choreography and embodiment.

our performers facing a wall, one reaching up alone, engaging with spatial boundaries and collectivity in feminist choreography.

Performer lying on the floor wrapped in a transparent costume, merging body and material in a moment of post-performance stillness.

Close-up of a performer’s concentrated facial expression under theatrical light, exploring emotion and presence in feminist choreography.

Group of performers crawling and vocalizing together in a low stage light, referencing the collective feminine body and resistance. Performance documentation by Giovanni Ambrosio.

Three dancers with heads leaning together, forming a tactile and intimate sculptural body in the dark. Feminine alliance in dance.

Performer expelling water upwards in a dark stage, evoking siren imagery and feminine voice in contemporary dance performance. Photo by Giovanni Ambrosio, Helsinki 2024.

Performer forcefully expelling water forward, capturing the intensity of the siren’s voice in bodily gesture. Performance photography by Giovanni Ambrosio.

The performance explores the force of femininity through movement and voice. The Singing of the Sirens is a song, a whisper, a scream—a resonating landscape shaped by bodies and vocal expressions. It evokes feminine presence through breath, laughter, singing, humming, and panting, building tactile and sensuous soundscapes. Inspired by the mythical Sirens—described by philosopher Adriana Cavarero as “the most dangerous vocal creatures the West has ever imagined”—the work interrogates the cultural silencing of feminine voices and gestures.