Production Details / Press Releases
Inspired by the choreographic similarity between the Samoan Fa’ataupati and the German Schuhplattler, we have created a series of hybrid urban folk dances for this performance. These dances bring together two different folk dance traditions in a contemporary environment. Seeing these dances in a perfect match in the rehearsal room, we were wondering, what makes the two cultures different – when their dances look so similar. So we took our camera and tried to investigate what turns the other into ‘The Other’. We are suspicious about this construction of the binary and the threat of assimilation resulting from it. Instead, we believe in the value of operating in the space between one and the other, between Them and Us. In this space, we can value similarities and differences alike, blurred to the point where the division between Them and Us is no longer applicable.
Cast & Credits
ARTISTIC DIRECTORS: Jochen Roller, Yuki Kihara
DANCE: Lafaele Fagasa, Malili Tautala, Paul Tuisaula (Tatau Dance Group)
VIDEO: Andrea Keiz
LIGHT: Marek Lamprecht
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE: Laura Böttinger
COSTUME MAKING: Inessa Schulz
SYNCHRONO SPEAKER EPISODE `1912′: Frank Riede
COOPERATION DRAMATURGY: Paula Guide
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Ralf Rothgaenger
OUTSIDE EYE: Laurens Walter
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Harriet Lesch
PRESS, PRODUCTION: björn & björn
THANKS to: Sake Akana (Auckland), Sabine Bello (Berchtesgaden), Sebastian Schatz Ellrich (Berlin), Carlo Goertner (Berlin), Malia Pein (Hamburg), Esau Junior Stoffregen (Brand), Makerita Urale (Wellington), Ursula Wischgold Berchtesgaden)
A production of Jochen Roller in co-production with Theater Roxy Birsfelden, Theater Freiburg, FFT Düsseldorf and SOPHIENSÆLE.
Supported by funds from the Capital Culture Fund and the Governing Mayor of Berlin – Senate Chancellery – Cultural Affairs.
With the kind support of the Special Committee for Theater and Dance BS / BL, Creative New Zealand and Goethe-Institut New Zealand.
Sophiensæle
Video Documentation
The video documentation is produced on behalf of the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. The purpose of this contract is to document productions in the field of contemporary dance in Berlin. The master recordings are archived by the University Library of the Berlin University of Arts. Copies of the recordings on DVD are available for viewing exclusively in the reference collections of the following archives (at media desks in these institutions):
University Library of the Berlin University of Arts
Mediathek für Tanz und Theater des Internationalen Theaterinstituts / Mime Centrum Berlin
Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT)