EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT BALKAN SEX RITUALS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK

GLOBAL PERFORMANCE ART SUPERSTAR MARINA ABRAMOVIC'S AMBITIOUS PIECE GETS WORLD PREMIERE AT AVIVA STUDIOS

- By ADAM MAIDMENT

FOR ten days in October, renowned conceptual artist and performer Marina Abramovic will lead a troupe of more than 70 performers in a new show that will get its world premiere here in Manchester.

Taking place from October 9 to 19 at Aviva Studios, Balkan Erotic Epic has been described as Marina’s ‘most ambitious’ work to date as it combines dance, song, and ritual with Balkan mythologies, sexuality, and interaction.

For those who have been working on the show will explain, there are elements that are ‘quite literal,’ whilst other aspects will become heightened in front of, and thanks to, the audience.

Marina's past works, often intense and stem beyond the expected, include The Artist Is Present - which saw her sitting opposite spectators in complete silence - and the daring 1974 piece Rhythm 0, which saw her standing still for six hours as audience members were invited to use a range of objects on her however they wished.

For this Manchester show, Marina will revisit her Balkan ancestry with folklore and erotic rituals of the region. Amongst the 13 scenes, audience members will be able to watch a powerful ceremony of women gesticulating over graves to ‘awaken the earth,’ and another sees women partake in a milk pouring ritual, which is exactly as it sounds. There’s also a scene where women bare themselves to the sky in a bid to banish incoming storms.

Marina says the production, which will feature dancers, musicians and singers, not only aims to shine a light on longstanding traditions found in the likes of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, but also challenge how these sacred expressions are far removed from the sexualised perception of things today.

"In our culture today, we label anything erotic as pornography," Marina explains.