Quiet observation of small species can change our perspective. A spider in a bathroom. Everyday reality intersects with an imaginary world where spiders dance to survive, overlooked beings celebrate their existence, and a turtle suddenly appears. Through costumed bodies and a moving installation, the performance leads spectators on a journey in which they cease to be human and imagine life as other kinds of species. Confronted with these creatures, they experience overwhelming and contradictory feelings: curiosity is clouded by fear of the unknown, confusion intersects with empathy and everything comes together in a series of introspective questions: Who is the real monster? Whose fear is real and whose is not?

The performance is part of the BAZAAR festival.

Ran Jiao is a performer and director based in Prague. She is interested in temporary places, especially places formed among bodies and interactions. She approaches relationships in a spatial manner and space as relationships of relevance. Site-specific and dialogical, her work considers how performance can intervene and bring an environment alive. Influenced by ecofeminism and indigenous ways of knowing, she uses performance as a tool to re-think social and environmental entanglement. 

This project was initiated by Czech-based performer Ran Jiao in collaboration with Belgian costume designer Anne-Catherine Kunz. SPIDER, TURTLE, WE went through a period of research and was presented as a 15-minute excerpt at Bazaar Festival 2022. The project is part of Live Performance Bazaar Residencies with financial support from the European Union.