Artist, performer and choreographer Alexandra Bachzetsis presented a new solo dance performance at Two Temple Place as part of Art Night. PRIVATE: Wear a mask when you talk to me (2016) explores gender identity through movement and music. At the beginning a female protagonist is on stage - Bachzetsis herself - adding the final touches to her makeup, wearing a skin-tight dress and creating an impression of an overdrawn version of femininity. She appears untouchable, like a hologram or photoshopped image online projecting unattainable parameters of what women should look like. After just a few fleeting moments she starts dismantling this illusion, taking off the mask of cosmetics and embarking on a series of postures, gestures and bodily rituals. Bachzetsis’ performance expressed the way sexual identity unfolds in everyday human behaviours and visual culture, and left the viewer to reflect on the extent to which we are all subject to role play, imposed identity and stereotyping.

Photo©Art Night