Intermission by VAL


Much enjoying to do dramaturgy for vAL / Corey Scott-Gilbert‘s new work at Tanztage Berlin 2025/ Sophiensaele:

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

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.

Work Space

From February to September 2025 I am partially sharing my Studio at Uferhallen. It is a bright and calm space for physical training, shootings, meetings and research.
Two rooms 45m2, with dance floor or tatami, photo screens and tea kitchen. The space is great for concentrated writing projects, shibari tying/teaching, and shootings on white and green screen.

For more information contact: email(at)dasniyasommer(.)de

SHIBARI CLASSES FEBRUARY – BEGINNER WITH EXPERIENCE

 

Shibari classes in February: Tuesday’s 4 + 11 + 18.2.2025
Hours: 7-9.30pm

The course Beginner with Previous Experience is directed at learning the basics of Shibari/Kinbaku technique. We start the class intuitively by following individual impulses with rope. After that we focus on systematic management of rope. On body handling and safety principles: knots, wrapping and aesthetic frictions. The material contains a wide range of harnesses for floor work and simple semi-suspension. It is strongly inspired by shibari works of Japanese artists I learned from over the last fifteen years. There is time to switch roles to deeper understand restriction from both the models perspective as well as the complex skill set of the rigger. In order to experience sexy phantasies and meditative ties.
Haus Sommer is located at Uferhallen Kulturwerkstatt. The atelier with a tea kitchen allows for suspension on bamboo for four couples. The small group size creates an intimate frame to start exploring Shibari for single participants, couples and groups of peers.

– Please bring soft clothes and ropes if you have.
– You can register alone or with partner. If you want to join alone it’s possible to pair up with each other. We will try to connect single participants a few days befor the workshop, but can’t always guarantee. Many thanks for patience and understanding.
– At the beginning we suggest regular participation and practice to create a solid technical base.
– Costs 30 Euro per person.

Mail: workshops(at)dasniyasommer(dot)de / FB: haussommer / Insta: Kinbaku Haus / WA: +49-174-393 70 49

Dates: 4 + 11 + 18.2.2025
Hours: 19-21.30h
Costs: 30 Euro per person (max. four couples)

Haus Sommer is located at Uferhallen Kulturwerkstatt – Wedding Uferstrasse 8,13357 Berlin. Entrance B6
In case the door is locked please call the number above.
Map here

In the picture: Eliko. Photographed by Werner Amann. Ropes: Dasniya.

Raven with Long Covid

Showcase Beat Le Mot - Raven with long Covid Hebbel am Ufer Berlin -Dasniya Sommer
By Showcase Beat Le Mot

Dates: Thu + Fri 19. + 20.December 2024. And Sat + Sun 4. + 5. Januar 2025.
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.

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

Shibari Workshops November + Dezember


Four more Shibari
workshops until the end of year:

12.11.2024 from 19 – 21.30h at Haus Sommer
19.11.2024 from 19 – 21h –  Karada House
2.12. 2024 at 17h – Zimmt Festival, Leipzig
3.12.2024 from 19 – 21.30h – Haus Sommer

Topic: Durational Harnesses

We will look at classical full body ties for simple suspension. The Hishi-structure is a gradually tightening shape which is fun to build and useful to understand specific decorative elements. Adapting to all bodies, it can be untied with a dynamic vibe, a somewhat wild and gutty energy. Before tying it yourself we will repeat body manipulation principles on the floor.
From the models perpective the tying proccess
needs some patience, but invites also to deep relaxation and dreamy states of rope drunkenness.
Level: begginner with previous experience – light intermediate.

Hours: 19 – 21.30h
Price: 30€ p.p.

For the dates: Nov 12 + Dec 3 at Haus Sommer, you can register via mail: workshops(at)dasniyasommer(dot)de. More info about content/level and Haus Sommer location here.
For November 19th pls reserve your spot via the Karada House site. Last minute participants can pay by the door.

In the picture: Liz Rosenfeld (aka Riv) in their performance ‘ Thank you for your effort even if these requests cannot be fullfilled’.

As long as you want

Coaching ropes and choreographic kink for Sheena McGrandles new work
‘As long as you want’.

Opening: Wed 6.11.2024 at 20.30pm / Hau2
+ 7 + 8 + 9.11. at 20.30pm

The duet “as long as you want” by Sheena McGrandles and Eli Cohen is a choreographic study of lesbian temporalities. The work is inspired by a body of erotic fantasy literature – assembling a cross-temporal arch of female poetic voices. Ancient poet Sappho meets contemporary thinkers such as Anne Carson and Sara Torres, alongside kink and punk practices, including Shibari, gay shadow dance, and pogo. A personal exploration of desire unfolds in a pastel-coloured landscape, with patches of digital renderings and densely knotted denim structures developed together with the visual artist Anna Mirkin.

Through intense physical connections and ambivalent sensations an ongoing choreography of fractured spaces of dis/attachment emerge. Together the performers’ solo bodies meet and melt in a world of never ending waves, rough play, and figures caught in a horizon of want and longing. In this temporary cycle of swellings and throbbings, desire transcends its fleeting nature, revealing transformative, perverse, and polymorphous forces. Playful and engaging, “as long as you want” is a profound choreographic encounter with an impulse of moving toward someone who isn’t yet close enough.

Cast:
Concept, choreography and performance: Sheena McGrandles / Performance by and with: Eli Cohen / Music composition: Stellan Veloce / Dramaturgy and Co-concept: Mila Pavićević / Set design: Anna Mirkin / Costume design: Evan Loxton, Nina Loxton /Light design: Elliott Cennetoglu / Choreographic Outside Eyes: Martin Hansen, Claire Vivienne Sobbotke / Shibari Practice with: Dasniya Sommer / Production: Anna von Glasenapp / high expectations / Production Assistant: Katharina Joy Book / Social Media: Dalia Hassan / Distribution: Paz Ponce / Thanks to: Nattan Dobbkin

Tying and Timing

shibari-bondage-berlin-dasniya-sommer-tara-samaya-photo-pippa-samaya


Shibari classes at Karada House: 24.9. + 22.10.2024
Shibari classes at Haus Sommer 1. + 8.+ potentially 15. 10.‘24

Topic: Tying and Timing
Hours: 19-21h
Group size: max. 10 couples

Repeating Japanese inspired technique: futo momo, gote and potentially semi-suspension, we will look at different temporalities while tying. Considering the preparation time before a bondage ritual. Connecting individual rhythms of rope from slow binding to mid tempo or speed tying, and also talking about ‘crip time‘ – constellations. How can experimenting with tempi, rhythm and rope translate intimate desires into a groovy session? Or, how can we embrace our anti-groove?

More info and directions: Karada House
Address: KARA, Perleberger Straße 59, 10559 Berlin (Moabit)

More information and the Haus Sommer address here.

In ropes: Tara Samaya
Picture: Pippa Samaya

LATE

Soon travelling to Finland for Juli Reinartz resaerch/doctoral thesis. We will spend two weeks at the Saari-Residence in rural nature. A journey by land with a multi-divers team and my little one joining as well. Last week we shortly touched on the topic in her studio in Berlin where the final presentation takes place at the end of June.
I much enjoy the reflective-somatic space Juli creates on ‘Temporality and Bodies’:

LATE is a long ball.
A baroque opulence with contemporary bodies.
A collective dance on crip time.
An excess of the time that we have.
An experiment on collectivity.
How can we share time if we cannot share time?

A group of performers returns to the beginnings of dance notation, gets in formation and assesses anew the cultural past that has defined the power space around them. They put in question the possibility of synchronicity and organize the space along their temporal scope. By way of that, they create a space of simultaneities. They engage with the past in order to create a future for themselves.

Research direction and choreography: Juli Reinartz
In collaboration with the performers Addas Ahmad, Ariane, Hassan Pour-Razavi, Dasniya Sommer and Matilda Carlid
Research participation: Daria Dönch, Jojo Büttler, Massiamy Diaby
Audio description: Silja Korn in collaboration with the performers
Outside eye: Gerko Egert
Music: Iftah Gabbai
Production assistance: Merle Wurl
Technical direction: Fabian Bleisch

Funded by Kulturamt Pankow and Theater Academy, Uniarts Helsinki. With generous support of Saari Residence, funded by Kone Foundation. Supported by residency program at PACT Zollverein (Essen), funded by the Ministry for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westfalia. Research funded by the performing arts Fund with funds from the Federal Government Commisioner for Culture and the Media as part of NEUSTART KULTUR. With generous support of Theater Thikwa.

22 and 23 June 2024
Entrance between 7 and 9pm
Storkower Strasse 115
10407 Berlin

For tickets, further information on the performance and accessibility: www.late-night.net

Contact: latebirdnight@gmail.com
German invitation here

Photo: Iftah Gabbai
Review: The Centre is Everywhere – The Circumference is Nowhere by Alice Heyward

Residenz: SPK – der Sommer Phuong Komplex

 


Trailer by Tanzforum Berlin / Bickman & Kolde GbR.

Text zu neworks – Aesthetics of Access #: „SPK – der Sommer Phuong Komplex“
(15./16. März 2024) von Gast-Studioschreiberin Camilla Pölzer

Eintauchen in die Welt von Fungi Fung 

„SPK – der Sommer Phuong Komplex“ ist das erste Stück der neuen Reihe „neworks – Aesthetics of Access“ im ada Studio, kuratiert von Liisi Hint und Maria Ladopoulos. In der Performance beschäftigen sich Dasniya Sommer und Fungi Fung mit der gelebten Realität von Bipolarität und benutzen als Access Tool Leichte Sprache.

Am Einlass wird mir und den anderen Zuschauer*innen ein heißer Stein angeboten. Ich nehme ihn gerne an. Auf der leeren Bühne sitzen zwei Performerinnen. Sie sind mit vielen dünnen Seilen zusammengeknotet. Die Köpfe sind eingesperrt mit einer aus Duplosteinen (große Legosteine) gebauten Festung. Langsam beginnen die Körper sich zu bewegen; die Finger lösen die vielen Knoten. Die Seile waren sehr eng um die Körper geschnürt; als sie gelöst sind, ist ein Atem zu hören: Wie gut, denke ich.
Die beiden gesichtslosen und befreiten Körper beginnen den Raum zu erkunden.
Fungi, eine der Performerinnen, umarmt Dasniya von hinten. Es ist ein gewaltvolles Umarmen. Dabei zerbrechen die Festungen, man sieht die Gesichter, die Duplosteine verteilen sich im Bühnenraum und sind nur noch Spielsteine. Der umarmende Körper lässt los, kommt erneut und die letzten „Festungsmauern“ zerbrechen. Die dritte Umarmung ist sanfter.
Es folgen Kampfsportübungen. Die beiden Performerinnen kämpfen miteinander und gegeneinander. Die Arme greifen ineinander, halten sich und lassen sich wieder gehen. Es ist eine hohe Anspannung in den Körpern. Die Qualität der Bewegungen und des Miteinanders wechselt schnell von Vertrauen zum Kampf. Immer wieder hört man die Duplosteine über den Boden gleiten, wenn die Körper diese durch den Raum schieben. Fungi stoppt und beginnt ein Gedicht aufzusagen. „Auf niederländisch?“ frage ich mich. Sie bricht ab, zieht einen Zettel aus Dasniyas Hosentasche und liest den Text vor. Es ist ein selbstgeschriebenes Gedicht, dass mich sehr berührt und ich habe den Eindruck, sie ebenfalls. Es geht um betäubte Gedanken durch Medikamente, um Kindheit, Jugend und Steine und ich habe direkt die Referenz zu dem warmen Stein in meiner Hand.
Ich fühle mich geehrt, es hören zu dürfen und einen Einblick in ihre Gedanken und Gefühlswelt zu bekommen.
Es folgt eine Szene, in der Dasniya von Fungi wie eine Balletttänzerin hochgehoben wird und auch wenn ihr das sichtlich nicht guttut, lächelt sie bei jedem Sprung. Mein Gefühl sagt mir, dass sie über ihre (körperlichen) Grenzen geht. Es wirkt absurd und ich und einige andere Zuschauer*innen müssen schmunzeln.
Die Bühne wird dunkel und über die Lautsprecher ertönt ein aufgenommenes Interview zwischen Dasniya und Fungi. Fungi spricht über die depressiven und manischen Phasen ihrer Bipolarität. Ich fühle mich durch die Art, wie sie über die Krankheit spricht, sehr mit ihr verbunden.
Das Gesprochene wird in leichte Sprache übersetzt und auf die Wand projiziert. Die Sätze in leichter Sprache haben einen anderen Rhythmus als die gesprochenen Worte. Für mich spannend, dass das gesprochene Wort viel schneller läuft als die leichter Sprache. Ich kann das Gehörte zeitversetzt nochmal lesen und tiefer einsteigen.
Währenddessen bindet sich Fungi einen runden Sitzsack auf den Rücken wie einen Schildkrötenpanzer. Sofort verknüpft mein Gehirn das Bild mit Depressionen. Betroffene Menschen beschreiben die Depression oft als einen schweren Sack, der auf den Körper drückt und einen nicht aufstehen lässt. Ich habe jedoch das Gefühl, dass Fungi einen Weg gefunden hat, mit dem Panzer zu leben – Sie tanzt mit ihm auf dem Rücken. Das letzte Bild: Fungi und Dasniya knoten sich wieder zusammen, verbinden sich.

Für mich erzählte die Performance das innerliche und äußerliche Ringen mit der Bipolarität von Fungi und ihren Umgang damit. Mein Eindruck war, dass sie in dem Stück selbst entschieden hat, wie viel sie mit uns teilen möchte.

Research: SPK – der Sommer Phuong Komplex

Reasearching four weeks with Fungi Fung at Ada-Studio . Many thanks to:
Gabi Beier, Maria Ladopoulos and Liisi Hint!
And to our team:
‘Leichte Sprache’ translation and dramaturgical support: Manuel Gerst.
Outside eye: Clara Eckhardt and Akiles.
Critical companion: Melmun Bajarchuu.
There is an online stream of the performance on the Ada-site until Thursday March 21st.
And a text written by studio writer Maia Joseph.