Radical Minimal

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Radical Minimal

2022, Length: 70 minutes

about the piece

With its new project “Radical Minimal”, the Christoph Winkler Company of Berlin seeks new perspectives on the interplay between minimal music, contemporary dance and diversity. To this end, the artists will examine three well-known, classically abstract pieces of minimal music and reinterpret them using their own, thematically oriented choreographies: “Come Out” by Steve Reich, “Coming Together” by Frederic Rzewski and “Stay on It” by Julius Eastman. The development of the choreographies will tie into their reception history in music and dance, as well as their connection to the American civil rights movement.

The thematic approach used in Steve Reich’s piece “Come Out” is especially impressive as it distorts the testimony of a young African American man who was arrested during the Harlem uprising in 1964 and suffered violence at the hands of the police. The composition increasingly warps his voice using progressive sound layering, and so doing, anticipates the medial repetition of such tragic fates – something the audience will recognise in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. As choreographed by A.T. Kersmaeker, the piece has become a classic of contemporary dance even though it rather conceals the subject matter of the original text. For “Radical Minimal”, the artists have teamed up with Adebajo Oluwafemi Israel and Rasheed Ridwan from The Future of Dance Company of Nigeria to develop a new production that increases the visibility of the original context.

All three compositions, each with their own specific choreographic language, will be combined in “Radical Minimal” to create a joint live performance with the Zafraan Ensemble and other international guest musicians. An extended film version of the project is also planned for a larger audience.

videos

Coming Together - The German Dance Award 2022 | AALTO-THEATER ESSEN

Stay On It - Kühlhaus- Berlin

Come Out - Kühlhaus- Berlin

Coming Together - Kühlhaus- Berlin

credits

Concept: Christoph Winkler | Music: Zafraan Ensemble - Flute: Liam Mallett - Saxophone: Martin Posegga - Clarinet: Miguel Pérez Iñesta - Percussion: Daniel Eichholz - Piano: Clemens Hund-Göschel - Violine: Emmanuelle Bernard - Viola: Josa Gerhard - Violoncello: Martin Smith | By and with: Oluwafemi Israel Adebajo, Lisa Rykena, Aloalii Tapu, Ridwan Rasheed, Raha Nejad, Sophie Prins, Andromeda Gervásio | Speaker: Howard Katz, Martin Hansen | Costume: Marie Akoury | Video editing: Gabriella Fiore | Video contribution: Vadim Epstein, Matthias Härtig | Technical management: Fabian Eichner | Production management: Laura Biagioni

A production by Company Christoph Winkler in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE.
Supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Federal Cultural Foundation with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

dates

reviews

[...] Director Michael Freundt, who hosted the evening of the award ceremony, explains: "The German Dance Award honours outstanding personalities of dance in Germany - regardless of whether they were and are effective on or behind the stage, in pedagogy, journalism, science or other areas of dance creation. In addition, performers, ensembles and projects in the dance landscape are honoured for future-oriented initiatives, exemplary concepts or extraordinary productions."
This time, the choreographers Marco Goecke and Christoph Winkler as well as Reinhild Hoffmann, one of the pioneers of German dance theatre, were awarded an honorary prize for their life's work. The Aktion Tanz association was also honoured for its special commitment to dance education.
All of them presented a sample of their artistic work to the audience and were also introduced with short film portraits. The premiere of "Coming Together", choreographed by Christoph Winkler, was particularly impressive. Laudator and dance dramaturge Elisabeth Nehring: "Christoph Winkler is not only a choreographer, but also an unconditional researcher who has dealt with socially relevant issues such as racism and postcolonialism - long before they also became en vogue in dance." Frank Blum - Stadt Spiegel 

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