Circus and dance performance „Silhouette letters“ / Artūrs Nīgalis (Latvia)

Choreographer: Artūrs Nīgalis

Performers: Artūrs Nīgalis, Marite Supe

Light designer: Nikola Suhareva 

Technical support: Indulis Sverns 

Producer: Latvian Academy of Culture

Mentor: Olga Zitluhina

International manager: Sintija Silina

Duration: 30 min.

Location: @Fishermen Palace (Taikos pr. 70)

RECOMMENDED for those fascinated by visually poetic performances that explore the complexities of human connections

In a calm space, a long rope hangs from the ceiling. The rope serves as both a connector and a separator for two dancers, who restlessly explore mutual co-dependency through spatial tension, acrobatic movement, and gesture.

The contemporary dance performance “Silhouette Letters” is a deeply personal and evocative work inspired by the choreographer’s own childhood experience of growing up without a father. At its core, the performance explores the emotional imprint left by absence, shedding light on the often-overlooked complexities of relationships that exist – even flourish – in silence, imagination, and the spaces we create within ourselves for those who are no longer (or never fully were) there.

The choreography plays with dualities – presence and absence, connection and separation, self and other – inviting the audience to reflect on the invisible threads that bind us in fragmented or unresolved relationships.

Artūrs Nīgalis is an experienced dancer and emerging choreographer from Latvia. He earned a bachelor in contemporary dance art from the Latvian Academy of Culture. His past projects as a dancer include the solo performance “Dārziņš”, “Interview with Francis Bacon”, and multiple productions with the Šeiko Dance Company (Lithuania), such as “Indigo”, “Suk Suk” and “Traveling Dunes”. His choreographic works include the Latvian stage production of “Notre Dame de Paris” and acclaimed contemporary dance duo “Silhouette Letters”. 

In 2025, “Silhouette Letters” was selected as one of the European dance platform’s “Aerowaves” 21 emerging choreographers’ work and as the first entry from Latvia. As a result, the dance piece was presented in the “Spring Forward” festival in Gorizia (Italy) / Novo Gorica (Slovenia) and International Contemporary Dance Festival of Mexico City “FIDCMX”, Mexico. Artūrs Nīgalis also received the Latvian Dance Award 2023-2024 as the best contemporary dance choreographer for “Silhouette Letters”. 

 

Photo: from the company archive