Richard Siegal / The Bakery
As if Stranger
SO/SUN - 28.02.2010 - 14.00 + 18.00
The dancer‘s body is confronted with the ominous emptiness of a mechanised, technological space and, by means of movement, initiates a pas de deux between itself and this technical world. Siegal‘s body is in conflict with itself, imprisoned in the apparent darkness of this enemy zone, tying itself up in supple movement phrases. Siegal bases the choreographic system on his if/then-method. Action X is automatically followed by reaction Y. A gameplay is created, a playful interaction between dance and dancer, which can be viewed as one or several causally related sequences of demands, placed within a particular simulated situation. The question of who is directing whom or what – the body directing the technical world or vice versa – accompanies the spectator throughout the performance, in which Sol Lewitt, John Baldessari, John Cage, Friedrich Nietzsche and Gertrude Stein are present, with quotations from literature and visual arts.
Richard Siegal, who originally comes from New York, founded The Bakery (Berlin, Frankfurt) in 2002 as a production and research platform for innovative choreographic projects. He conducts workshops for D.A.N.C.E in Brussels and curates the annual Forsythe Festival in the framework of the American Dance Festival. From 1997 to 2004 Siegal was a member of William Forsythe‘s Ballet Frankfurt. In 2008 he was artistin- residence at the ZKM Karlsruhe. As if Stranger is the third part of his Stranger -trilogy. AS IF STRANGER won a Bessie in 2008, after the second part was granted a Mouson Award in 2007.
Choreographie und Tanz | Choreography and dance Richard Siegal
Cello | Cello Wolfgang Zamastil
Bühne | Stage set Virginie Mira, Richard Siegal
Lichtdesign | Lighting design Gilles Gentner, Antoine Seigneur-Guerrini
Licht | Light Michael Lentner-Niyorugira
Tondesign | Sound design Amaury Groc
Ton | Sound Sebastian Rietz
Video | Video Norbert Pape, Philip Bußmann
Produktionsleitung und Management | Production management Dr. Dieta Sixt
Eine Koproduktion mit | A coproduction with Danspace Project NYC, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Muffatwerke München, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt a. M.
Förderer | Supported by Nationales Performance Netz, Kulturstiftung des Bundes im Rahmen des Tanzplans Deutschland, The Forsythe Company, Fabrik Potsdam, French Cultural Services New York
Dauer | Running time 50 min.
Photographie | Photography © Joris-Jan Bos