Give me a reason to live
Scotland coreographer and dancer Claire Cunningham explores the symbolic universe of dutch painter Bosch. A live memorial to the disabled victims of the Nazi Aktion T4 euthanasia program of the mid 20th Century, and the current disabled victims of recent ‘welfare reform’ in the UK. Dance no limited.
In a starkly beautiful work of transcendence and struggle, Claire delves into the work of medieval painter Hieronymous Bosch, to explore religion, religious art, and the judgment of souls and bodies. Through tests of both body and faith, Give Me A Reason To Live draws upon imagery of disabled people in Bosch’ s apocalyptic paintings to question our present perspectives on “otherness” and “difference”. Powerfully physical, visually striking, and set to a mesmerising score, Give Me a Reason to Live invites us to consider our own empathy, sympathy or indifference, in a work of both generosity and brutal immediacy.
“Stark [and] brutal with her customary integrity and conviction.” (★★★★★The Herald)
choreography and performance Claire Cunningham
lighting Karsten Tinapp / sound Zoë Irvine / cello Matthias Herrmann / additional music Nesciens Mater by Jean Mouton and Den Tod by J. S. Bach / costume Shanti Freed
mentors Kristin De Groot (Bosch Project) and Janice Parker (Scotland) / production management/ and re-lighting Gregor Knüppel / executive producer Nadja Dias / assistant producer Sheena Khanna
with the support of the Bosch 500 Foundation, Dance Umbrella, Comune di Bassano del Grappa, La Briqueterie, D.ID Dance Identity, Festival CEMENT (NL), Dansateliers Rotterdam, The Work Room (Glasgow) and Dance House (Glasgow)
with the collaboration of the 
dance performance
length 40' no interval
02/09 at 13:00 talk at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona
on the Dance Dance Dance UK programme
follow #givemeareasontolive on twitter / www.clairecunningham.co.uk
