Residency - Matchseller by Anne Pajunen
Matchseller is a work in progress project by actor and dance artist Anne Pajunen.
Through a sensorial practice of observing her surroundings she incorporates her environment and responds to it both physically and textually through an interwoven practice of writing, moving and recorded image. The project springs from a desire to reinterpret two classical texts, Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Matchgirl and Harold Pinter’s short play A Slight Ache, by specifically focusing on the character of the match seller present in both texts. Inspired by feminist thought, in particular by Anne Sexton’s poetry collection Transformations and Hélene Cixous’ essay The Laugh of the Medusa, as well as the work of choreographer Deborah Hay, the project rewrites the story of the fire kindling character of the match seller. By examining themes of Presence, Transformation and Otherness, the performance practices a perpetual process of questioning and becoming. Through a continuously shifting motion, language and textuality become corporal and the Matchseller begins to manifest.
Anne Pajunen (FI) is an actor and dance artist working internationally. Her work moves in between dance and theatre and investigates the fine line in between reality and the world of imagination.
She graduated with an MA in acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Prior to this she studied at the Theatre Academy of Finland and at the Research Cycle of P.A.R.T.S. As a performer she has worked with for example Alexandra Bachzetsis, Jan Fabre, Daniel Linehan, Gabrielle Moleta, Elodie Pong, Tino Sehgal and Jeremy Shaw.
The artist has been supported by Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the project has been developed in residency and partnership with The Finnish Institute of Athens, Flux Laboratory Athens, Dance All Year Long, P.A.R.T.S. and Le Petit Festival du Théatre Hanko.