Saal A

Saal A

2008, Trio, 60 Min

about the piece

The piece “Saal A” questions the stories behind movements and styles: Where do they come from, which people, places or phases of life do dancers associate with specific movement vocabulary. On stage we have three dancers, whose only similarity is an affinity to hip hop. The three of them embark on joyful journey into their own biographies, which they share with their partners on stage. Saal A creates a multifaceted web of stories, moods and memories as it shows how much knowledge and life is contained in the movements and styles of dancers.

videos

credits

Conzept: Christoph Winkler | By & With: Christine Joy Ritter, Eugene "U-gin" Boateng, Marie-Lydie Nokouda | Costume: Mariya Yordanova | Production: ehrliche arbeit - freies Kulturbüro | Camera: Walter BickmannTanzforum Berlin

Eine Produktion von Christoph Winkler in Koproduktion mit Theater Görlitz und LOFFT.Leipzig. Gefördert durch die Kulturverwaltung des Landes Berlin und dem Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung von Eliashof.

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reviews

"Do you know Mary Wigman?" classically trained Joy Ritter asks her colleague Marie-Lydie Nokouda. She doesn’t, but she dances house as if she had studied with her. Eugene Boateng's hip hop gestures, on the other hand, seem Broadway-bound. And the three fantastic dancers in "Saal A (Meet & Greet)" proceed with stunning nonchalance to demonstrate what else they have learned. Dance is their life, incorporating impulses from mother's "apple-picking-dance", Philippine glass balancing and Ghanaian drum dance. But they have also engaged in an intense dialogue with classical, modern and hiphop. And Christoph Winkler has here translated the immense knowledge of these three into a piece of contemporary self-reflection. In Joy Ritter's solo, for example, we rub our eyes at how everything, yes, everything is connected. Such a thing could serve as religion for those deeply in need of enlightenment. Winkler is already hinting at a co-production with the Lofft next year - Hallelujah!- Leipziger Volkszeitung

The question Christoph Winkler asks in his new production is not far-fetched: Where do dancers get their movements from, how do they grow into the different bodies, how do they break through? This is exciting for those who have not graduated from a purely classical ballet school. (…) Many stories, so many experiences, good, bad, purely random. Everyone shows something from their past, the others seek to learn. Like fragments, the memories stored in the body are now piled up on stage. Eugene, for example, was inspired by the movement patterns of animals such as lions, monkeys and snakes. In the end, all parts flow together in a common dance to driving music: Jazz, classical, Filipino folklore, flamenco, show, apple-picking kick. Hip hop is the glue that binds and colours the fragments. Rarely is it possible to follow the development of dancers so vividly, rarely does one see such present, all-round excellent performers as the trio to which Winkler's organising hand in "Saal A" has pointed the way and left its mark on Eugene's personality. Neues Deutschland-Volkmar Draeger