Sepia, Stav Struz Boutrous
Stav Struz Boutrous, Sepia © Zohar Ron
I love discovering new dance forms. You think you know every way there is to move the body and then BAM something comes along and expands your horizons even further. So, boy, was I excited to see Sepia by Israeli choreographer Stav Struz Boutrous, presented at the Lilian Baylis Studio for the inaugural Bloom Prize for newer choreographers.
Originally premiering in 2022, it was created as part of her research into Caucasus and Soviet Union culture and how folk and contemporary dances can be mixed. This particular work takes the Georgian military dance Khorumi (traditionally danced by men) and mixes it with female dance styles from the region.
It’s hard to escape the contextual implications of presenting a work with military connotations by an Israeli dancer in 2025. I’m not a political journalist and my only qualification to even begin to discuss what is happening right now in the Middle East is an AS level in the 1900s Arab Israeli conflict — I’ll leave the morality of championing such a work with a prize nomination up to the better informed. However, war affects both and all sides and civilians most of all, and I do wonder whether the mournful feel of the work was intensified simply through knowledge of the current political situation of the performer’s homeland.
The setting certainly felt like it was being performed in an abandoned no man’s land. Three sets of lanterns were placed around the stage, the border of which was covered by a long, leafless vine (reminiscent of chicken wire in WW2 battlefield pictures). Boutrous stood, her face over her hands as silence pierced the air. Soon she began the evening’s most regular motif: rolling over the fronts of her feet (the flexibility!) and moving over the floor on her knees with incredible fluidity. Every so often she would stand for folk music breaks, hopping across the floor, her feet tapping around her ankles.
From my very brief research into Khorumi (this article is great), the dance is normally one of victory and depicts a battle scene (it’s traditionally a group dance). But, whether in the form of an ominously sung backing track, her falling to the ground, wrapping her long braids around her neck, swiping a dagger across her eyes or dragging the lanterns around in a fluffy cape, the feeling of this particular piece was one of melancholy. It felt like watching a woman meditate on the pitfalls of war and mourn those she’s lost — using a military dance to do this was an inspired idea. Boutrous was evidently moved by her work and I’m sure many in the audience were too.
★★★★
Sepia by Stav Struz Boutrous
Lillian Baylis Theatre / 29 January 2025
Press ticket
Nominated for the Bloom Prize for Choreography. Find out more →
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