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Art

Autonomous Avatar at Festival der Zukunft

Autonomous-avatar-Tobias-Staab-Nadja-eller-Corey-Scott-Gilbert-dasniya-Sommer
On tour at ‚Festival der Zukunft‘ – enjoying our 10th show and arriving at a mind set where dancing becomes second nature. Walking on stage and just do it.

Date: Friday July 4, 2025
Location: Deutsches Museum München/ Planetarium
Time: 19 Uhr

Can machines learn on their own? Is an algorithm able to hallucinate? What if our lives were just a computer’s dream? The hybrid dance performance AUTONOMOUS AVATAR deals with these questions. Two performers discover their human bodies until they transcend into superhuman forms. The encounter with these new digital deities takes place on the threshold between analog and virtual realities.

Berlin-based artist Tobias Staab has developed the choreography together with the dancers Dasniya Sommer and Corey Scott-Gilbert. Using live motion capture technology, their organic physiognomies are combined with the immaterial bodies of the avatars. The texts were created on the basis of a story by Jorge Luis Borges and in close collaboration with various artificial intelligences. The spoken and sung sounds derive from on a number of voice recordings made with the award winning actress Sandra Hüller. The score was conceived and arranged by composer Beni Brachtel.

Direction, Text, Concept: Tobias Staab
The choreography was developed in close collaboration between Tobias Staab and the dancers Dasniya Sommer and Corey Scott-Gilbert.
Performers: Corey Scott-Gilbert & Dasniya Sommer
Voice: Sandra Hüller
3D-Design: Luis August Krawen
Music: Beni Brachtel
Stage Design & Concept: Nadja Sofie Eller
Costume Design: Annika Lu Hermann
Motion Capturing: Warja Rybakova
Light Design: Matthias Singer

Funded by: Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien / NEUSTART KULTUR, Dachverband Tanz Deutschland / tanz:digital. Produced with support by: DOCKdigitalLab, Planetarium Bochum

Premiere: War Games @ Münchener Kammerspiele

 

Choreographing for WAR GAMES by Skart at Münchener Kammerspiele.
After a longterm rehearsal process, stretching over two years, with 12 devoted teenagers from Munich, we opened yesterday with a blast. There are two more shows at Therese-Ghiese Halle this week end:

Premiere June 26, 2025 at 19.30h
Saturday 28, at 19.30h
Sunday 29 at 16h.

Theatre of the new generation

War is as old as mankind. For 300,000 years, there has been fighting somewhere in the world – despite all the cries of “Never again!”. Why can’t mankind break out of this spiral? “War Games” examines war as a performative cultural history and social vicious circle. Together with children and young people, SKART questions power, violence and the rules of the game. The result is a multi-layered performance with theater, video, sound, costumes and stage design – perhaps even dance. But “War Games” is not children’s theater. SKART and the team deal with “adult topics” on a radically equal footing: What is violence? What does it do to us?
Humorous, provocative, intense – SKART is one of the most innovative groups working with children and young people in the German theater scene. “War Games” is art, education and a social statement at the same time. SKART gets involved – with a bang!

SKART & Friends Charlotte Heidenreich (Performerin), Stephan Janitzky (Künstler), Anton Kaun (Video- & Noisekünstler), Deniz Khan (Musiker), Lea Letzel (Künstlerin & Pyrotechnikerin), Janne Plutat (Kostümbildnerin), Mark Schröppel (Performer & Theatermacher), Dasniya Sommer (Tänzerin & Choreografin), Henrik Weber.

With Karla Bacher, Lionel Barth, Isaac de Mercey, Sophie Einloft, Milan Glück, Anna Haas, Emma Konrath, Lukas Lauser, Nala Ouaffi, Melanie Siebs, Jakob Waldow.

Artistic Production Management: Elke Bauer, Daniela Schroll
Technical Production Management: Richard Illmer
Stage Management: Thomas Graml, Josef Hofmann
Lighting: Wolfgang Eibert, Yongwoo Kwon, Christian Mahrla, Louis Nickel
Sound Paolo Mariangeli, Alejandro Nieto
Video: Technician Julia Römpp
Carpentry: Florian Thoma
Props: Julia Molloy
Costume: Janne Plutat
Make Up: Jannes Donner
Stage Manager: Hanno Nehring
Photos: Judith Buss

Between study and ritual: Storia Infinita

Eliko moves and suspends between geometric plastic plates. Moss-swings and passepartout underlay for organic material alternating with skin as intimate surface. Meanwhile woollen clouds are hanging from the ceiling, and Fuchur slowly dissolves.

Model: Eliko
Fotos: Werner Amann
Support: Iman.rhv
Space concept + ropes: Dasniya Sommer

 

 

SKART & MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

Eine neue, schöne Zusammenarbeit mit den MOTUS und Meine Damen und Herren Ensemble.
Premiere ist nächste Woche auf Kampnagel, 9. April 2025, 19 Uhr.

WAR GAMES

In der rund 300.000 Jahre alten Geschichte des modernen Menschen gibt es keinen Augenblick, in dem nicht irgendwo auf der Welt Krieg geführt wurde. Obwohl die meisten Erdenbewohner*innen anscheinend dagegen sind, gibt es wenig Vorhaben, die der Homo sapiens so zuverlässig umsetzt, wie das Morden im großen Stil. Wie eine schlechte Angewohnheit wechselt der Krieg regelmäßig seine Erscheinungsform und wird kontinuierlich verdammt – wirklich aus der Mode kommt er allerdings nie. In ihrer neusten Produktion WAR GAMES widmet sich das altersgemischte Kollektiv SKART & Masters of the Universe zusammen mit Performer*innen des inklusiven Ensembles Meine Damen und Herren dem Phänomen Krieg als performativer Kulturgeschichte. Gemeinsam mit Schüler*innen der Stadtteilschule Altona untersuchen sie kriegerische Konflikte als gesellschaftliche Teufelskreise. In Form künstlerischer Endlosloops stellen sie die Frage: Warum ist »Nie wieder!« eben nicht jetzt?

Mit: SKART & Masters of the Universe

Von und mit SKART & Masters of the Universe, Björn Auftrag, Charlotte Heidenreich, Friederike Jaglitz, Deniz Khan, Lone Lausen, Isabella Lüthe, Maja Maciak, Stephan Mahn, Tintin Patrone, Janne Plutat, Lars Rubarth, Minu Schilling, Mark Schröppel, Sina Schröppel, Michael Schumacher, Dasniya Sommer, Henrik Weber

Gefördert im Programm Jupiter – Darstellende Künste für junges Publikum der Kulturstiftung des Bundes – gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien. sowie von Hamburgische Kulturstiftung. In Kooperation mit ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS.

 

Intermission by VAL

Dramaturgy for vAL / Corey Scott-Gilbert‘s new work at Tanztage Berlin 2025/ Sophiensaele. Passionately exploring what a dramatugical approach means from a practical dancers perspective. Thanks for this beautiful collaboration, and the lovely team brought together by Corey.

INTERMISSION

Reality has become so absurd that it’s hard to distinguish fact from fiction and we, simultaneously the viewers and the subjects, are left numb. If our authentic self is being clouded by the ravages of social ills, what do we have that can break through this psychic interference to be shared? The answer could be in our dreams, but what if we are so overwhelmed and oversaturated that we can only stare in a dreamless abyss?

INTERMISSION is a solo work based on a collective archive of dreams, aiming to fill the gaps of a fragmented remembering. By falling through a procession of postures stored in his body’s archive, vAL mines for clarity in a dense fog of disrupted dreams. What memory remains is shared through a stichting of narration, ballad and physical conjurings that start to reimagine what new dreams might sound or look like. The archive is brought to life by his own performative doubt, variability and curated interruption. This relentless pursuit of lost dreams inspires anarchy which ultimately becomes his repair. What may eventually erupt when we sit together in our puzzlement?

Cast and credit:
Performance: Corey Scott-Gilbert | vAL
Choreographic Associate: Ariel Cecelia Freedman
Dramaturgy: Dasniya Sommer
Sound: ILYICH
Light: Gretchen Blegen
Scenographer: Lea Steinhilber
Costume: SADAK
Production: Neda Sanai
Photos: Mayra Wallraff

This performance features hanging textiles made in collaboration with Luis Alberto Rodriguez and SADAK as well as the voices of Charli Reese Kane, Harvest Shira Shiloah, Kayden Tickner, Stelios Tsatsos, Gus Solomons Jr.

A production by vAL. Originally commissioned by Emerging Change Tanzfestival with the support of Flutgraben Performances Residencies and Sophiensæle. The 34th Tanztage Berlin is a production of Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. With the kind support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V., Theaterhaus Berlin and Uferstudios GmbH. Media partners:  Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.

Raven with Long Covid

 

A special view to see the audience 10 meters beneath me. Lying on camp beds looking up to the sky loft. A bondage-inspired vertical theatre by Showcase Beat Le Mot.

Dates: Thu + Fri 19. + 20.December 2024. And Sat + Sun 4. + 5. Januar 2025.
Trailer, German text and tickets here .

“Breathe in, breathe out. Find a niche in the brutal world until the storm has passed. Breathe in, breathe out. Dealing with the authorities, healthcare forms. Noise & light are no longer a simple joke, but nasty everyday hurdles. Breathe in, breathe out. What happens when the limits of consideration meet the limits of perception? Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Raven” is a symposium, gathering and performance about peak performance and the question of what happens when nothing else works. The frame of reference is the chronic illness ME/CFS, as a chronicised form of Long Covid. Sick and non-ill artists are involved in the conception and design of the event series with various contributions. The title refers on the one hand to the dance and party culture of the 90s, and on the other to the claustrophobic fantasies of forced standstill as sketched by E.A. Poe in his famous poem of the same name.

Over four days, “Raven” creates space for the art that is created with and despite ME/CFS. ‘Raven’ is explicitly designed for sick people, companions and allies, as a theatre in a reclining position, with quiet spaces and landscapes with reduced stimuli.

Cast

Concept, realisation: Showcase Beat Le Mot / Artistic collaboration: Florian Feigl, Christopher-Felix Hahn, Albrecht Kunze / Performance by and with: Philip Albus & Ana Berkenhoff, Catherina Cramer, Katharina Cromme, Gosia Gajdemska, The Millennial Midlife Crisis, Malin Harff, Stephan Hellweg, Clara Heinrich, Anja Ibsch, Sunniva Innstrand, Ania Kolyszko, Josephine Lange, Sophie Lenglachner, Roxane Llanque, Romy Lutze, Sebastian Meissner, Dana Müller, Rebekka Muth, Leonard Nadolny, Carolin Ott, Crash Theater, Johanna Pigors, National Ballet of Kosovo, Julia Sandforth, Louisa Schiedek, Lilia Schliephacke, Showcase Beat Le Mot, Elisabetta Solin, Dasniya Sommer, Birte Viermann, Mirjam Wählen, Sebastian Warne, Lisa Wiedemann, Erik Zürn, 4 Faule Frauen, Dania Alasti, Toni Kritzer, Moritz Andreas Bürge, Amar Halilović, Lukas Kahn Kesler, Black Ferk Studio (Matthias Mollner, Judith Schößbock) /Technical direction: Bart Huybrechts / Production management: Olaf Nachtwey
Photo: Michael Shenbrot/ Sandra Fink.

Production: Showcase Beat Le Mot. Co-production: HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Funded by: Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, Hauptstadtkulturfonds.

Tanzpraxis Research: Para Ju Jitsu WM in Crete

 

Heraklion

An inspiration journey with Fungi Fung. A while ago Fungi said she is eligible for the BJJ (Brasilien Ju Jitsu) Para World Championship in Crete this year. Do it! I said, but the registration turned out too pricey. Take these dollars from the Tanzpraxis scholarship, we continue our choreographic research SPK (der Sommer-Phuong-Komplex, see below), and you bring gold home! ^^
Happy experiencing a new world of performing sports! An extremely beautiful competition hall with more than fifty nations competing. There were six fighting areas, many female referees and most interesting set up that during fights, coaches are allowed to sit behind a counter feedbacking and screaming advices, as from the outside they often have a better view on how to undo the complex Ju Jitsu drills. If you want, these locks look like a forceful killing embracement.
All para fights took place on the last day. Fungis opponent was a male fighter on the autism spectrum. It was important to know, as the para categories are put together by the official board and coaches, so that restrictions are relatively equal, and both fighters have a realistic chance to win. There was valuable briefing from Yakup Mutlu, a fighter himself, and Fungis dear friend and adviser to prepare her strategy. She hardly warmed up I wondered. It was all about mind setting, and became a beautiful fight. Two rounds. They both were so utterly present, like big cats spiraling. At the start one of the Brasi fans loudly macho laughed, seemingly shouting ‘you get her down in a second’, but Fungi submitted his companion in two rounds of three. The whole Brasilian team, and biggest BJJ para-organizer worldwide, were deeply fascinated by her dance-like style. Later in the day I documented the award ceremony, a.o. the Brasilien First Lady handing over gold medals, and one for Fungi! ^^
All in all I took more than 2000 photos, some videos and soul supported when possible. It definitely was a sweat producing challange, in such a testo-loaded sport event. We both admired the Mongolian and Kasachstan athletes like teenies.
The more I enjoyed running around as accredited  photographer, being allowed to the edge of the tatamis, and highly aware of fighters crossing the outlines to quickly jump away.
The camera was my magnifying glas. Observing the rough take downs closely, feeling into, anticipating attacks and dramatic facial expressions after submission. Especially I liked the protocol before and after the fight. Bowing and respectfully shaking hands, that’s what I learned to little in ballet training – the sporty team spirit!  One of the club board leaders told me, to shoot the as much as possible emotional snap shots for the German team, they appreciate it a lot.
For the choreographic research I am still pondering how to structurally access this form further. There is a lot of floor work, and so called ‚Duo’s’. Set sequences judged by realistic self-defense elements. One scenario for example was a person in a wheel chair taking down someone standing.
Anyway I am looking forward to take a few classes, and wonder if there is a queer, BiPoc fightclub in Berlin, to hopefully duet further with what Fungi and I started at Ada-Studio this year.

With many thanks to Senatskanzlei für Kultur und Medien Berlin / Tanzpraxis for the support of my choreographing research, and to the DJJB (Deutscher Ji Jutsu Bund).

Bunker Bondage

Joining this fun pilot project last minute: an interactive sound/rope installation at a former deep bunker in Friedrichshain from the 60ies. It was build for 250 people, several small rooms, and is now pretty run down and moist.
Both inspiring and irritating to bondage historical space, and during I was pondering about possible meanings. Is this how bunker architecture should be used, or exactly not?
But we only had two days. About the rope work it was most surprising that Keke and Wick managed to make the organic material sound. Jumping on the web and playing strings with fingers the audience co-created a sonic uncanny vibe. Thanks a lot to Keke (concept/sound) and Wick (cello) for inviting me. It was lovely to meet Taiga, tie with Natasha, and to add to Andy Buru’s ropy space ship.