Hairy is a dance for four bodies and their hair, created by Lithuanian choreographer Dovydas Strimaitis. It plays with the balance between order and chaos, where hair—so alive yet impossible to control—moves on its own, like an echo of the body it belongs to. It is a delicate boundary between us and the world, something that separates us yet also connects us to what lies beyond.
Letting hair flow freely has always been a powerful act. In Western culture, it evokes freedom, rebellion, and romanticism. Isadora Duncan knew it, Pina Bausch knew it, as do the metal and ballroom scenes. In Hairy, Strimaitis transforms this symbol into movement: a hypnotic and minimal dance, where every small gesture unfolds into images and stories, letting the hair itself speak.
Dovydas Strimaitis is a Lithuanian contemporary dance artist based in France. He began dancing at 12, training in line dance, show dance, and later, contemporary dance. In 2019, he graduated Codarts (Rotterdam). From 2019 to 2022, he danced with the Ballet National de Marseille under La Horde and has worked as a freelancer since 2022 with Kor’sia and Dalila Belaza. His first piece, The Art of Making Dances, premiered in 2021 (New Baltic Dance Festival, Vilnius), followed by A Duet in 2023 (ArtDanThé Festival, Vanves). In 2022, Hairy 1.0 was a finalist at the Danse Élargie competition (Théâtre de la Ville, Paris). After solo and trio adaptations of Hairy, the full-length piece premiered in 2024 at the New Baltic Dance Festival and toured in such venues and festivals as Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, festival actoral in Marseille, and festival Madrid en Danza among others. His works are defined by structural rigor, a minimalist yet physically demanding vocabulary, and intricate musicality, exploring the history of art and its political resonance.
Concept – Dovydas Strimaitis
Choreography – Dovydas Strimaitis with the dancers
Performance –Line Losfelt Branchereau, Benoit Couchot, Hanna-May Porlon, Dovydas Strimaitis
Lights – Lisa M. Barry
Music – original composition by Julijona Biveinyt?, Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 played by Yo-Yo Ma, Sarabande from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 2 played by Jean-Guihen Queyras
Production – Alix Ruyant for Still Waiting
Co-produced by Th̢̩tre de la Ville; New Baltic Dance Festival; Montpellier Danse as part of residency at the Agora, cit̩ internationale de la danse, with the support of the Fondation BNP Paribas; NEUFNEUF (together with a residency at RING Рsc̬ne p̩riph̩rique).
In collaboration with AMAT for RAM.
Supported by Tanzhaus Zürich; La SPEDIDAM, société de perception et de distribution qui gère les droits des artistes-interprètes en matière d’enregistrement, de diffusion et de réutilisation des prestations enregistrées; l’ADAMI.
With the support of Caisse des Dépôts and Ville de Marseille-Direction de la culture.
