Hello. My name is Olivia Rivière. My choreographic work springs from a fascination with sound, voice and body relations and I'm drawn to cross-disciplinary exchanges, especially between that of choreography and sound practices. I create visceral performances seeking to evoke affective spaces, often in close intimacy to the audience. Coming from a classically trained choir background, I form a duo with choreographer Lisen Pousette (SE), where we together have been exploring the embodiment of extended vocal practices since the beginning of our collaboration in 2017. Our work takes a somatic approach, aiming to stretch and reshape the gendered voice through its materiality and reach. Drawn to textural expressions like growling and variations of screaming, we navigate a spectrum of intensity, shifting between different ambiences. In doing so, we create responsive situations that seek out resonance.
Right now I'm very curious about the social and relational aspects inherent in the vocal and sounding sphere. The special and spacial mood and mode of attention, through listening and calling. I have been playing with the idea of dissonace, here seen as a strand of resonance. Musically, dissonance happens when two notes are in close proximity to each other without being in symbiosis. Dissonant notes collide with each other, creating an even larger oscillation and vibration than notes in harmony: another form of resonance. In, The Ringing (working title), I'm in a relation with the space, pieces of noisy things that's already in the space, and the audience. In closeness and friction, we little by little get swooped in to a common ground of noise - a sublimation of dissonance, looking to create a social feedback loop of affect, intimacy and intensity.
I'm based in Denmark, and work mostly between Copenhagen and Stockholm for the last many years. Currently I'm spending a lot of time in France, Montpellier, where I will complete MA Exerce in Choreography, summer, 25´. In Copenhagen I have since 2015, collectively run the space DANSEatelier exploring new modes of exchange that can enhance our senses of collective thinking and interdependent living. We are responsive to dreams, needs, and various knowledge sharing formats - feel free to DM ^^.
Some of the Artists that I work with and that has been of great influence to me and my practice is visual artist Anna Moderato, choreographer and writer Sara Gebran, and choreographer and dramaturg Ida Larsen and ML Stensbjerg (IIR) <3