elevladweb

[elevladweb]

vlad’s boxes for ‘gamotopos’

[elevladweb]

Eleni Roberts Kazouri (b. 1998, Greece) is a dancer and perfor- mer currently based between Brussels and Athens. At 21, she moved to Brussels to pursue her studies at P.A.R.T.S. from which she graduated with a BA in Dance in 2022. Since then, Eleni has established herself as a freelance artist, working for renowned choreographers, across diverse disciplines, in collaboration with her peers and for the creation of her own work. Eleni’s choreographic interests focus on the perception of the body within socio-political contexts, particularly through the lens of “Balkanism”. She explores the complex identity of the Balkan body—how it is seen and interpreted externally, juxtaposed with its own urgent, contemporary realities. Her work delves into the tensions between external perceptions and lived experiences, engaging movement as a means of challenging, expressing, and reshaping the narrative around Balkan identity today.

Vladimir Babinchuk (b.2001, FR) from Portuguese and Ukrainian origins, is a dancer, performer and maker based in Brussels, Bel- gium. At the age of 18, he began a B.A. in Dance and Performing Arts at P.A.R.T.S, from which he graduated in 2022 and started off with a MA in Fine Arts in 2024. His practice explores the intersections of memory, identity, and space, drawing from his Eastern European heritage and personal experiences of cultural displacement. Through performance and in- terdisciplinary work, he investigates how collective and individual histories shape our present and future, always seeking to challenge the narratives we inherit.

[elevladweb]

'gamotopos' reflects on the haunting presence of the past and the physical act of trying to reclaim it. It questions how we construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct the world around us in an effort to make sense of our his- tory and the futures that never came to be. The work is a continuous process of discovery and loss, where the figures navigate a landscape that is as fluid and uncer- tain as the memories they seek to uncover.

[elevladweb]

The stage is dominated by a landscape of coal bags, stacked into an unstable pile, creating a raw, indus- trial setting. This space is in constant transformation, both fragile and weighty, as the coal shifts and grinds, releasing dust and altering the environment around it. The landscape itself feels like a living entity—heavy with history, yet always on the verge of breaking apart.

[elevladweb]

Two figures move within this space, each driven by distinct intentions. One, perched atop the coal, ma- nipulates the landscape with claw-like hands, as if attempting to excavate something buried deep with- in. The other figure, working from below, engages in the act of shaping and reshaping the space, pulling and pushing the coal bags to create new formations. Together, their actions reflect a relentless search for meaning, for something tangible in the shifting layers of memory and time.

[elevladweb]

'gamotopos' intends to become a staged work that delves into the themes of memory, nostalgia, and lost futures. Derived from the research project save the goldfish, it continues to explore how a gone past haunts the pres- ent, shaping the landscape. The piece navigates the tension between what we try to hold onto and what inevitably slips away, drawing on the idea that memo- ries are not static but constantly shifting and reshaping themselves.

[elevladweb]

'gamotopos' is a project with the ambition to become a staged work, derived from Eleni’s and Vladimir’s previous research project ‘save the goldfish’. Both dancers engage with their own “fallen nostalgias”. On one side the haunting of a soviet heritage and on the other, the loss of a generational geo-choreography. Close to idolization, the two performers take part in a ritualistic process, bringing them closer to the “lost futures” they so long worshipped.

[elevladweb]

dossier : metal we hit - stolen language -haunted o/f - nostalgia’s nefarious nexus (NNN) - naughty - save the goldfish - you broke my hammer - break my hammer - i love evian - oh waw holy s(h)it - look at all these tesla - mais, wtf there are s many - did you ever see a grey tesla - you re going to france - nohhh - hhmhmhmhmmm - broken nostalgia - i eat hammers all day long / trww sfirìa oli mera

[elevladweb]

metal-hammer, bend, cut, hit- used as a movement practice,,,

[elevladweb]

some poems on fallen nostalgia-laborwave research nostalgia of a world that has fallen,,,that we never knew off

in the vast ocean, where nothing else but a boat, smoke, and waves.

me and my beloved father decided to take a walk around the boat.

the air is dense, the boat's pipeline smoke comes and goes, breaths itself in and out of my lungs,.

the noise of the hydraulic press ticking and slamming underneath my feet, the fresh scent coming out of the sailors and the tender look of the captain behind his steering wheel.

I thought I had just landed in heaven.

the tales my mother would speak to me as a child at bedtime are almost identical to what I'm witnessing.

I remember her describing to me the smelting of the iron, the tempering and quenching of the old good days.

days of labour, of communitarian work, of team mateship

.

coming back to the ship. I decide to take my father down to the bilge. a place of wander.

finding myself that close to the die casting machine and the injection holding machine, was splendour. 

I had gone right beside them, touched them, put my cheek against the tank, but that wasn't enough.

I had to understand what exactly this thrilling sensation was.

the fuel tank next to me had an open gate. 

I went through the trouble of putting my body inside.

It wasn't that bad. heat and smoke. a perfect mix, like a cherry on the cake.

thank you dad for this trip.

[elevladweb]

some poems on fallen nostalgia-laborwave research : nostalgia of a world that has fallen,,,that we never knew off

I walk down the stairs and I don t see

they woke me up too sudden

seven hours in the car

sleeping

what are these gas pipes on my right?

I get in-the smell is very strong and it gets me dizzy

I continue walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking and walking.

they’re very long these gas pipes.

I feel a tremble coming from the other side of the tunnel; big tremble

I can sense the petrochemicals entering my nostrils.

I panic, I can’t move, my kinetic energy has been completely deactivated and I’m just sitting there waiting for the pyrolysis, waiting for the manufacturing plant to come and crush me into hydrocarbon particles that will then contaminate the greenhouse gases.

after seven hours we arrive

[elevladweb]

Eleni and Vladimir came together with a common wish :restore what had been lost. As a result, “save the goldfish” was born. A research project centred around the themes of memory, ancestry, individual/ collective identity, hauntology and geo-choreographies.