Baltic Dance Platform 2022: M(other)

“M(other)” is a dance piece in which a mother and son perform together. It explores the question of how family and career can be reconciled, especially for a woman. Raimonda Gudaviciute is both a caring mother and a passionate artist. In “M(other)” she illuminates both roles on stage. In the interplay with her 8-year-old son, who brings his own influences and experiences into the play, an exchange develops that addresses many aspects of becoming and being a mother. In the process, the challenging
but at the same time wonderful complexity of motherhood comes to light. What begins as a family’s story develops into an empathetic dialogue between two experts, who not only share their knowledge of breakdance and contemporary dance, but develop entirely new perspectives on mother and son, gender roles and the relationship between art and life.

The stage set consists of a constantly changing space in which the dancers have to find themselves again and again. They grapple with it, share it, claim it for themselves. Despite the very personal arrangement on stage, the theme is considered from a general point of view. Thus, the voices of many mothers and their children flow into the soundscape. The result is an emotional, stirring, but also critical duet between mother and son, which attempts to answer fundamental questions as authentically as possible. “M(other)” is a piece not only for parents and their children, but for everyone who juggles with different roles in life.

Raimonda Gudavičiūtė began her dance training at the Aura Dance Theatre in Kaunas (Lithuania) and has performed at many dance festivals and theatres both in Lithuania and abroad. She studied dance and acting at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, deepened her knowledge at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon in France and completed a master’s degree in contemporary dance at the Theatre Academy in Finland. Since 2010 she has been working as a freelance choreographer, dancer and dance teacher. Raimonda teaches both professional dancers and beginners in Lithuania, Finland and Germany. She recently gained new experience as the leader of a dance class for young mothers with their babies. In 2020 she developed the short film M(e)&M(other) together with the dramaturg Ingrida Gerbutavičiūtė and the cinematographer Sebastian Heindorff, in which she danced with her son Elias and which also forms the basis for this dance piece.