2020
Director, choreography Mansoureh Aalaii
Dancer Ambra Peyer, Anna Knörr, Antoinette Berta, Nel Bonaventura, Mansoureh Aalaii
Space, Light-concept Onzgi
Music Har$, Marc Plas, E_Rébus, Onzgi
Thanks to Lutz Schmalfuss, Ursula Tappolet, Tanja Simmonett, Melanie Villaor, Andrea and Christopher Schoen
Video Sebastien Jamain
Trailer Marc Plas
Photo Claude Hofer, State of the Body
The Stillstands is an exploration of people who have experienced a deep break in their life, triggered by a sudden frightful change in their living conditions. Such a break can mysteriously give rise to beings within that no longer evolve - the stillstands. Is it possible to give them a body and a space through dance?
During the first lockdown of spring 2020, when dance training and performances were cancelled, it was vital for me to do something about this situation. I started to lead an outdoor training with five dancers, which resulted in the dance performance The Stillstands, premiered on 30 September 2020 when it had become possible unexpectedly to have an outdoor audience.
We had to work with what was possible in this situation which became a challenge to change our view on everyday things. I decided to work on an outdoor stairs as a symbol, physical hurdle and an obstacle to trigger resistances in the dancer’s body. I wanted to awake and make visible the existence of the stillstands they carry in their bodies.
The dance performance The Stillstands began at sunset, so that artificial light gradually interplayed with the decreasing natural light and imperceptibly transformed the staircase into a grid. As the performance progressed, the dancers increasingly were trapped in this grid.
2020
Director, choreography Mansoureh Aalaii
Dancer Ambra Peyer, Anna Knörr, Antoinette Berta, Nel Bonaventura, Mansoureh Aalaii
Space, Light-concept Onzgi
Music Har$, Marc Plas, E_Rébus, Onzgi
Thanks to Lutz Schmalfuss, Ursula Tappolet, Tanja Simmonett, Melanie Villaor, Andrea and Christopher Schoen
Video Sebastien Jamain
Trailer Marc Plas
Photo Claude Hofer, State of the Body
The Stillstands is an exploration of people who have experienced a deep break in their life, triggered by a sudden frightful change in their living conditions. Such a break can mysteriously give rise to beings within that no longer evolve - the stillstands. Is it possible to give them a body and a space through dance?
During the first lockdown of spring 2020, when dance training and performances were cancelled, it was vital for me to do something about this situation. I started to lead an outdoor training with five dancers, which resulted in the dance performance The Stillstands, premiered on 30 September 2020 when it had become possible unexpectedly to have an outdoor audience.
We had to work with what was possible in this situation which became a challenge to change our view on everyday things. I decided to work on an outdoor stairs as a symbol, physical hurdle and an obstacle to trigger resistances in the dancer’s body. I wanted to awake and make visible the existence of the stillstands they carry in their bodies.
The dance performance The Stillstands began at sunset, so that artificial light gradually interplayed with the decreasing natural light and imperceptibly transformed the staircase into a grid. As the performance progressed, the dancers increasingly were trapped in this grid.