Sri Susilowati is a choreographer originally from Java, Indonesia. Her work is grounded in Indonesian art forms as well as training in post-modern dance composition. She creates contemporary works on the subjects of community, gender, and ethnicity through dance and multi-media. Eating Dance (working title) employs contemporary dance and spoken word, along with traditional classical Balinese, Javanese, and Sundanese movement vocabularies to tell stories of food ritual for dancers. Using text, video projection, and dance movements, the piece will explore the contrast of how dancers in the United States and Indonesia value food.
2009 Festival Performance
“Eating Dance”
Backstage before a recent performance, classically trained Indonesian dancer Sri Susilowati sat eating a large meal. She looked around and saw the other dancers sticking to a few carrots before they hit the stage. Eating Dance is a hilariously clever and exquisitely performed one-woman dialogue that features contemporary dance and spoken word along with traditional Indonesian dance vocabularies to address food rituals and the meaning of food for dancers in Indonesia.