Icarus

Icarus is the son of the famous Athenian sculptor and stonemason Daedalus, who was banned to Crete where he constructed the famous labyrinth for King Minos so he could imprison Minotaur in it. To escape from captivity in Crete, Daedalus made wings of feathers and wax. He warned his son to fly low above the sea and not too close to the sun, but Icarus flew too high, the wax melted from the heat of the sun and the boy plunged into the sea.

Icarus’s story creates questions: Is Icarus heroic or reckless? The opinions have always been divided. Inside us, there is a fight between the mind and the heart. Some saw the fall but others saw the flight – it depends on the gaze. Since our childhood, we learn to follow the precise rules that contribute to our survival and the survival of the social system. We must not excel and we must not fall below the average. Icarus, however, is the embodiment of human striving to reach beyond the limits of the possible, to find new options, to venture into the unknown, to discover new dimensions. And perhaps learn something from the fall. Creative souls have no difficulty identifying with the character of Icarus, who inspires. Artists have always wanted to go into the unknown, the impossible. The dancer’s wishes are to fly, to rise up to the sun. In the times in which we live, we especially want freedom, unlimited life, a view beyond the narrow boundaries of the system in which we live, our own limitations and those imposed on us by others. The myth that has inspired many artists also inspires the dance performance produced by the MN Dance Company in collaboration with the SNG Nova Gorica.