Silhouette Letters
Artūrs Nīgalis (Latvia)Venue in Valmiera (107km from Riga)!
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, masterful 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 to others, even in fragmented or unresolved relationships.
About artist
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. Since 2018, Artūrs has been working as a professional dancer, and in 2023, he made his debut as a choreographer. 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, upcoming work Made by person 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 Italy/Slovenia. He also received the Latvian Dance Award 2023-2024 as the best contemporary dance choreographer for Silhouette Letters. Currently, Artūrs mostly works as a freelance dance artist in the Baltic countries and is working on new dance production.
Credits
Choreographer: Artūrs Nīgalis
Dancers: Mārīte Supe, Arturs Nigalis
Composer: Kaspars Niklasons
Light designer: Nikola Suhareva
Rigging manager: Indulis Šverns
International manager: Sintija Siliņa
Producer: Latvian Academy of Culture
Mentor: Olga Žitluhina