Geopolitical Re-framing of the Nation and Language in Babel(words)

Abstract

This chapter analyses Babel(words), co-choreographed by Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet, as a geopolitical work. Concerned with choreographic negotiations of borders, territory and identity, the work continually reconfigures the metallic cuboid structures designed by Antony Gormley to shift and resignify space. Cherkaoui and Jalet are interested in what binds the large, diverse cast together in their humanity: the well-coordinated cooperation required to manipulate the large aluminium frames; the physical exhaustion derived from a choreographed response to Sufi devotional singing practices; the choreographic exploration of mirror neurons; and the simple interlinking of limbs as a large group each offer ways in which commonness is found through dance and the body.