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Demnächst

Glutamat in Progress

Two weeks into ‘Glutamat’. Researching by myself. Once in a while different dancers are joining on the forth floor of Ballhaus Ost. Collecting material about fast- and slow food behaviour. Climbing up and down the small ladder to fit the set into the space. Eating Ramen. Reading on ballet by ‘Mishima’ (Thx to Gestalta! And yes, he is problematic.) Learning sequences to the dancers, in- and outdoors. Eating Ramen. Checking out Codemiko (Thx to Frances!), this awesome fem streamer and former gaming programer, who drives people crazy on snitch these days. I much enjoy her edgy, over the top style! Here are some in between steps. ..

This research is part of Take Care Residenzen, supported by Ballhaus Ost, Flausen Netzwerk and Fonds Darstellende Künste. Very glad to continue this work in progress which started last year for ‘An unboxing Ballet Beat’. Choreographic documentation on video will be up on this blog from mid April.

 

 

Dis – Tanzen Funding

Yea! I am very glad to announce that the Dachverband Tanz has granted my ‘Dis-Tanz Solo’ scholarship, a promotion programme for freelance creative-dance artists.
The program supports my artistic reorientation from dancing and performing towards focussing on choreographic work for nine month.
On this blog and on social media I will document my research material. The first tutorial or live stream podcasts will be end of January 2021.

„Gefördert durch die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Programm NEUSTART KULTUR, [Hilfsprogramm DIS-TANZEN/ tanz:digital/ DIS-TANZ-START] des Dachverband Tanz Deutschland.“

AN UNBOXING BALLET BEAT

September 13th, 2020

For the closing event of Tanznacht Berlin 2020, two very different female artists have been invited to combine their practices: Mmakgosi Kgabi is a voice-over artist who finds ways of embodying language and speech with her own «(Dance) Encyclopedia of the Mouth». Dasniya Baddhanasiri is a ballet dancer and choreographer who runs a dojo in Wedding in the Japanese art of Tight Bondage.

In «An Unboxing Ballet Beat», Mmakgosi Kgabi and Dasniya Baddhanasiri conduct an open, body-voice dialogue, simultaneously breaking down sentences and ballet vocabulary to create a rough working environment. By their reciprocal approach of bodily listening, they open spaces in which processes of connecting and dividing occur equally, in parallel. The audience is cordially invited to engage with this exchange and to join the artists on their journey through a space-time continuum full of surprises.

Mmakgosi Kgabi is a trained physical theatre and improvisation performer and also a performance facilitator. Her work often interrogates the premise of identity and nationalism, revisiting themes on the Black Female Body Politics and Migration.

The choreographer Dasniya Baddhanasiri researches movement from the perspective of the dancer. Her primary interest is the redefinition of body images, which she seeks within a physical and cultural spectrum ranging from Japanese bondage art to deconstructed ballet practice.

Ticket and more information here

Theatre: The Männy

Just finishing an inspiring challenge with Kevin Rittberger, Nora Khuon and Sandra Fink at Schauspiel Hannover. ‘The Männy’, created with texts and themes from Donna Haraway’s work ‘Staying with the Trouble’, amongst others.
It was intense! My brain turning to mash reading and discussing theories and highly sensitive texts with five devoted actors, and a patient team. Everybody was open to the very end. Working so detailed through and inbetween each sentence with Kevin and Nora. And, open to dive with me into the rope world, learning some shibari, and navigating my rope installation through space as if it was another play partner. A sort of rhizom, air roots, or anarchically grown dendrites.
It wasn’t my first stage design with ropes, but the first in close collaboration with the workshop and technical department of the theatre. Using thousands of meters of jute and hemp. Feels.
And also the first time using rope juxtaposed and at the same time closely intertwined with 90 minutes poetic theoretical content, and developing it over the course of the evening.
The actors did a really good job. Telling an utopia involving plantoids. A kind of cyber biological connection between plants, insects and humans. Screaming of the shrinking population to safe our planet from dying (very roughly). Or for example other systems of ‘care’.
I much enjoyed searching for scenes/images, and developing a dance sequence with the actors. Opening up the more bodily dimension to them, and working through pain, muscle memory, nerves and endorphines. And, there was also the level of finding an approach together with Kevin, and get to know his work. Sometimes rough, often new but in the end productive I find. Yea, I’ d like to continue choreographing in this way, crossing over fields!

REGIE Kevin Rittberger BÜHNE Kevin Rittberger, Dasniya Sommer KOSTÜME Sandra Fink CHOREOGRAFIE Dasniya Sommer DRAMATURGIE Nora Khuon

Fabian Felix Dott Tabitha Frehner Anja Herden Torben Kessler Alban Mondschein

Big thanks to Vanessa Scarra and the supportive technical team of Ballhof 2!

Premier: February 21st, 2020
More dates: 3 + 19 + 29 März