Zinnia Oberski’s dreamlike performance on trapeze and earth asks what it is that connects us to our animal selves.
Beginning suspended upside down, Zinnia is all muscle, hair and bone. Confined within the small world framed by the heavy ropes and bar, her hands begin to explore, curiously creeping around and along, approaching each discovery with newfound joy and apprehension.
Zinnia’s focus and conviction in every delicate moment, every new twist or pull on the trapeze is utterly engrossing, making her discovery of the earth an act of pure joy! But with this new knowledge comes her sense of self in the world and, latterly, the world of the other.
Ultimately, this is the journey from innocence to significance, from animal to human, naïveté to consciousness, which ends in a celebration of the wild woman taking full control of her world.
Inspired by Beltane and Samhuinn rituals, Greek mythology and narratives of women and nature, Dreams of the Small Gods is a hypnotic, transformative experience, rich in imagery that will stay in the imagination for some time to come.