Jojo Sélavy

Jojo Sélavy is a stage persona drawing on various solo-performer archetypes, moving between spoken word poetry, pop music, and mime.

The work centers on (re-)producing a heightened sense of “nowness” through the improvised permutation of fixed base sentences and their corresponding body movements over repetitive musical phrases.

Bathed in blue light and standing on a white cushion, the figure appears almost as a moving sculpture — reduced to voice, expression and gesture. The lyrics function as emotional anchors, triggering hand and arm movements while carrying subtle winks and references to art and literature.

In a subsequent version, the character performed in dialogue with a pre-recorded video double made in the same space. The contrast between live presence and mediated representation highlighted different modes of “presence,” employing media technology as a form of magical trickery.

The 30-minute performance »Herzen Blau« (engl. Hearts Blue) was performed at Theater Mülheim an der Ruhr, SLOT and Westwerk in Hamburg, Stadtgarten Cologne and the auditorium of the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.