Production Details / Press Releases
Inhabiting the liminal spaces between artistic disciplines is a central element in Sasha Waltz’s strongly movement-based and image-rich choreographies. In her new piece, Waltz has collaborated with the fashion designer Iris van Herpen, the lighting designer Urs Schönebaum and the musical and performance art trio Soundwalk Collective. In “Kreatur”, the choreographer and her 14 dancers investigate aspects of our existence set against the contemporary backdrop of a society divided by power and powerlessness, dominance and weakness, freedom and control, community and isolation.
Sasha Waltz (choreography) studied dance and choreography in Amsterdam and New York. Together with Jochen Sandig, she founded Sasha Waltz & Guests in 1993, and in 1996, the Berlin dance and theatre venue the Sophiensæle. Between 2000 and 2004 she formed part of the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz artistic direction team, where she produced works such as her “Körper” (Body) trilogy. In 2004, she went out on her own again as a choreographer, and has since produced numerous choreographic works. Sasha Waltz has received multiple awards for her work, including the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Federal Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Besides the artistic direction of Sasha Waltz & Guests, she will take over the direction of the Staatsballett Berlin with Johannes Öhman in 2019/20.
Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen (costume design) works at the frontiers between art, design and fashion. Her remarkable creations stand out for their unusual sculptural forms. They have been presented in a number of exhibition settings, at venues such as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. She creates her multidisciplinary approach by working together with a range of artists. Her interest in science and technology has led to ongoing conversations with CERN, the European organisation for nuclear research, and with MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has created outfits for artists such as Björk, Tilda Swinton and Beyoncé.
Soundwalk Collective (music) was founded by Stephan Crasneanscki in Manhattan. Since then, Crasneanscki and the other members of the group, Simone Merli and Kamran Sadeghi, have been creating concept albums, sound installations and live performances in New York and Berlin. This international music collective has performed live at venues and festivals such as Opera de Lyon, CTM Festival (Berlin), Novas Frequências Festival (Rio De Janeiro), Barbican Centre (London), Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Mobile Art by Zaha Hadid (Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York). Their latest album “Before Music There Is Blood” was released in April 2017 and features Max Loderbauer.
After completing his training as a photographer, Urs Schönebaum (lighting design) worked from 1995 to 1998 as a lighting technician with Max Keller at the Münchner Kammerspiele. Since 2000 he has been working as a lighting designer for theatre, opera, exhibitions, performances and installations. He has worked on more than 130 productions at venues such as Covent Garden London, Opéra Bastille, Metropolitan Opera New York, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Festival d’Avignon and the Wiener Festwochen. He works with directors such as Thomas Ostermeier, La Fura dels Baus, William Kentridge and Michael Haneke, and has a long-time collaboration with Robert Wilson.
Davide Di Pretoro (Repetition), born in Colleferro/Italy, studied ballet and contemporary dance at the Accademia Nazionale di Danza Rome, Balletto di Roma and Cunningham Dance School, New York City. He has worked with Thierry Smits/Cie THOR, Ballet Preljocaj, Itzik Galili-Krisztina DeChatel/Dansgroep Amsterdam, Wayne McGregorIRandom Dance, Andonis Foniadakis, the Compagnia Virgilio Sieni and, since 2015, with Sasha Waltz. He teaches and is among others a rehearsal assistant for Wayne McGregor|Random Dance.
Jochen Sandig (dramaturgy) founded Sasha Waltz & Guests in 1993 with his partner Sasha Waltz, for whom he also works as a producer and dramaturge. In 1996, he founded the Sophiensæle, and was the artistic director there until 1999. From 1999–2004 Sandig formed part of the artistic direction and was the dramaturge for dance at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. Since September 2004 he has been an artistic director at Sasha Waltz & Guests. Together with the music manager Folkert Uhde, Jochen Sandig is the artistic director of RADIALSYSTEM V. In 2019, Jochen Sandig will become the managing artistic director of the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele.
[Source: play bill]
TFB Nr. 1086
Cast & Credits
Choreography & Direction: Sasha Waltz
Costume Design: Iris van Herpen
Music: Soundwalk Collective
Lighting Design: Urs Schönenbaum
By and with: Liza Alpízar Aguilar, Jirí Bartovanec, Davide Camplani, Clémentine Deluy, Claudia de Serpa Soares, Peggy Grelat-Dupont, Hwanhee Hwang, Josh Elliott Johnson, Annapaola Leso, Nicola Mascia, Thusnelda Mercy, Virgis Puodziunas, Zaratiana Randrianantenaina, Yael Schnell
Repetition: Davide Pretoro
Dramaturgy: Jochen Sandig
Production: Sasha Waltz & Guests
Coproduction: Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Grand Théatre de Luxembourg und Opéra de Dijon
Made in Radialsystem ®.
Sasha Waltz & Guests is funded by Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa and Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
In cooperation with Sasha Waltz & Guests.
Tanz im August presented in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.
Tanz im August 2017
Artistic Director: Virve Sutinen
Executive Producer: Isa Köhler
Producer & Assistant to Artistic Director: Marie Schmieder
Curator & Producer: Andrea Niederbuchner
Assistant Producer: Alina Sophie Lauer
Technical Director: Patrick Tucholski
Tanz im August is a festival by HAU Hebbel am Ufer, funded by the Capital Cultural Fund and the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.
Haus der Berliner Festspiele
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)
Sasha Waltz & Guests / Trailers and Video Documentations
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: remains (2020)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: rauschen (2019)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Métamorphoses (2011)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Travelogue I – Twenty to eight (2011)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: A Mary Wigman Dance Evening (2010)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: The Sound of Qin (2010)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Aného (2010)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Parallel (2009)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Dialogue II (2009)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Rückwärts (2009)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: Aliens! (2009)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: SHOCK (2009)
- Sasha Waltz & Guests: d´avant (2008)