Hi Jinx
Hi Jinx : a live solo performance lecture

Hi Jinx is a full length piece that pays homage to the seminal early twentieth century dancer, choreographer and filmmaker Heidi Dzinkowska.

There are near-mythic figures. Even to those with only fleeting interest in the arts or the history of modern dance their names resound: Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp . . . Heidi Dzinkowska. Well, maybe not Heidi Dzinkowska.

So, why has Liz Aggiss chosen to enact, in her performance-lecture Hi Jinx, this unknown yet seminal early twentieth century dancer, choreographer and filmmaker? Why dedicate herself to such thorough presentation of Dzinkowska's legacy via archival film, dance reconstructions and demonstrations of Dzinkowska's highly influential, we are assured, Dance Commandments? The answer may be found in the curious Commandments themselves; Commandment Number One: Thou shalt not improvise; keep your improvising for the bathroom, or in the choreographer's idiosyncratic performances as recreated by Aggiss. One piece lasts just so long as it takes the dancer to crack every knuckle, indeed, seemingly, every joint in her body. During another, Aggiss entices the audience: "If I were you, I would just let my eyes wander up and down my body; because I am about to perform a rather graceful and sinuous turn." The turn is accomplished, after much fussing with a handful of uncooperative frock, and with slightly more grace than a fall down a steep staircase.

Hi Jinx displays a warm rebellious wit while asking the audience to think sideways about its desire to create historical icons from the past.


Reviews
The performance proved that she is indeed the Vivienne Westwood of dance film world: anarchic, strawberry blonde, fearless and satirical. Aggiss has an incredible charisma.
londondance.com - Georgina Harper

Splendid performance lecture in which Aggiss with incisiveness and humour outlined the essence of her craft
Lizzy Le Quesne Ballettanz

Aggiss and Cowie delightedly crumble rules and icons in their art..


Anna Angstram Svenska Dagbladet

Liz Aggiss makes Mathew Barney look like the kid next door. She is intense.
Michael Oatman Rensselaer Institute, Troy, New York State

Previous Performances
2006

IMZ Festival Brighton Corn Exchange

ADF North Carolina USA

Modernes Theatre Stockholm Sweden

British Council St Petersberg Russia

2008

Rensselaer Institue, Troy, New York Sate, USA

The Point Eastleigh