2007 Tour
Lichtspieltänze I: Film & Dance Performance
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Aqua Madora: film by Ana Baer; choreography by Magdalena Stoyanova and Antonia Hess (photo by Frank Sygusch) |
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Translation of excerpt:
On Monday evening a successful dialogue of experimental dance-films and
live performances could be seen at the Heli Cinema. The interdisciplinary
event titled “Lichtspieltänze I” was the opening act of the “TanzArt
ostwest”, the fifth version of this kind, under the artistic direction of
director Tarek Assam. All the films had already been shown at the Sans
Souci Festival of Dance Cinema. Members of the Giessen
Dance Company, as well as five additional dancers, commented on the films
in thoughtful and polished choreographies.
The moving images on the screen were not, however, degraded to decorative scenery. The
individuality of the filmic work remained intact. The films were actually expanded and
commented on through the dances instead. An intensive brainstorm regarding the movies
had to have happened prior to the event, as the results were all noticeably cohesive and
well thought-out. The approaches to the material were all variably
diff erent. On the one hand the dance on stage corresponded with the
persons or objects on the screen, on the other hand they seemed to work
and gel with the rhythm of the editing, the sounds and the particular
camera work.
Ana Baer o ered a choreography to her own film “Silent Salvoes”. On the
screen we could see fragments of images, while the sounds of a storm and
fire were heard. The silhouette of a dancer dressed in white was discernable.
Dancing on stage were Julia Christeiner, Antonia Hess and Hiroshi
Wakamatsu, also dressed in white. The resulting e ect was that of the
dancer on the screen having stepped down on the stage in three versions. Sometimes the
images were doubled, sometimes what happened on stage and on screen moved apart,
still, a cohesive piece of work was the result.
Tarek Assam chose “Aqua Madora” by Ana Baer for his choreography. In the film
a female dancer fought with a blanket on a couch. She was stretching, tying herself into
knots; sometimes her movements were abrupt and full of aggression. Parallel on stage Assam
let his dancers Magdalena Stoyanova and Antonia Hess fight with each other and get tangled up in
each others bodies. His ideas were particularly productive and creative, as
he didn’t just copy the actions of the dancer on the screen: some of the
choreography on stage actually commented on objects seen in the films.
Sometimes, for example, a leg, lifted up, would complete the line of the bed
on the screen, at other times the back and forth movements of a dancers
foot would mirror the rocking movements of a rocking chair. He also played creatively with the possibilities
of close-ups and wide shots, as the images
didn’t always fully inspire the live performance. It seemed as if the
choreographer now and then imply concentrated on parts of the frame to
masterfully expand them scenically on stage.
Frank Sygusch
Translation by Florian Sachisthal
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