Mother Tongue
Alesya Dobysh

Mother Tongue is a solo dance study by Alesya Dobysh.
In 2020, during the global lockdown, a solitary research trip began in a small 2×2 room. This is where the 10-minute work originated Stop Making Sense. This piece took inspiration from the falling images in Robert Longo's photo series Men in the City.

Alesya, the choreographer of the piece, began by deconstructing her dance background, which was heavily influenced by house dance - footwork-oriented club styles. She used this material to redefine her physicality in relation to gravity, the main shaping force.

At 34, four years later, Alesya revisits her research. Unexpectedly, she is driven to delve into her identity, which is clouded by immigration experiences, feelings of alienation and shame. Instead of avoiding these facets of her Self, she embarks on an inward journey, a quest to understand who she really is beneath the layers that life has placed on her.