In the space of less than ten years, Sasha Waltz has moved on from being a dancer and noted choreographer to artistic directror at the Schaubühne in Berlin, a post she has shared with Thomas Ostermeier since 2000. In 1993, she met Jochen Sandig, with whom she created her company and a first triology, Travelogue. In 1996, they celebrated the opening of their theatre, the Sophiensæle with a performance of Allee der Kosmonauten, followed by Zweiland and Na Zemlje. In 1999, she produced a project called Dialoge 99', to be staged in the Berlin Jewish Museum built by architect Daniel Libeskind. In this piece, Sasha Waltz manages to give body to images which have penetrated her generation, and it became the basis of her future research - exploring the body and what it becomes. Having already been present at the Avignon Festival several times, in 2002, she and her dancers performed their world première of noBody in the Pope's Palace Cour d'Honneur.
Impromptus
After her trilogy which showed the body in all its forms and moods, Körper (2000), original sex and organic pleasure in S (2001), the fate of souls in noBody (2002), and the imposing choreographic installation, Insideout (2003), Sasha Waltz has decided to return to the closeness of the couple and one-to-one proximity. Distancing herself from the contemporary music which irrigated her dance creations of the past ten years, she has drawn inspiration from Franz Schubert's Impromtus, the well-known and delicate pieces for piano composed in 1827, a year before his death. Sasha Waltz has delved into one of the romantic classics and brought out a certain spontaneity of feeling, but also the fragile nature of moments of happiness. The moods are versatile, changing swiftly from a deep melancholy to profound joy, and create an feeling of sensitivity in this dance piece: “Were I to sing about love, it would lead me towards pain, were I to sing about pain, it would take me to love,” wrote Schubert. But Sasha Waltz doesn't try to illustrate Schubert's music. Instead, she is determined to make us feel the most intense emotion in the most abstract way. The sensually tactile costumes designed by Christine Birkle, as well as Sasha Waltz' and Thomas Schenk's extremely pure scenography accentuate the effect of this minimal piece. A reflection on the music that is played live on stage by pianist Andreas Kern, with singer Judith Simonis.
Distribution
direction and choreography : Sasha Waltz
composition Franz Schubert
dance and choreography : Maria Marta Colusi, Clementine Deluy, Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, Luc Dunberry, Michal Mualem, Claudia de Serpa Soares, Xuan Shi
piano : Andreas Kern
singing : Judith Simonis
scenography : Thomas Schenk, Sasha Waltz
costumes : Christine Birkle
dramaturgy : Jochen Sandig, Yoreme Waltz
lighting : Martin Hauk
Production
produced by : Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz (Berlin)
coproduction :Teatro Comunale di Ferrara