Double Dance Evening “Archangel”

by | 8 Aug, 2016 | Press

The dancer Zoe Gyssler talking

Double Dance Evening “Archangel” at the Staatstheater Kassel

 

Primary Writer: Mario Grass | Kassel, 05.18.2016, 08:01

Source: N.Klinger

GDN – Two completely different choreographies are currently under the dance-double evening to experience “Archangel” at the Staatstheater Kassel. Zoe Gyssler, dancer of the Kassel ensembles, German Daily News was for a discussion of the current production. –

After Lethe: “Maxine has an over-flood of images in her head.”

The noise of a river penetrates to the ear and in the dark a graceful woman can be seen that, the audience back Turning slowly rises from a washtub. The emerging effects resemble that feeling that occurs shortly after the gentle awakening in an unfamiliar place, when, while awareness in vain the increasingly fading and irretrievably zerrinnenden dream indulges, eyes searching keys after orientation by the prevailing darkness, gradually dimly details Near recognize and merge them successively into a complete picture. What place has led us our dream?

So begins the first part of the dance-double evening “Archangel” at the Staatstheater Kassel, in which the audience can experience two pieces with the work of the choreographer Maxine Doyle and John Wieland, which carry entirely different manuscripts.

“After Lethe,” the first piece of the evening, was the guest choreographer Maxine Doyle, the artistic director, founded in 2000 and already legendary to be designated London theater company “Punchdrunk” belongs developed.

The dancer Zoe Gyssler remembers the starting point of joint work: “Maxine came the ancient legend of the river Lethe continue with the idea to Kassel. Whoever drinks from the water of the river, lost his memory, and according to legend, wander the souls of dead people on this river to forget the past life and to get rid of him. Maxine wanted to explore the question of what happens when Lethe dries out, we can not forget and are forced to dance with our own demons. “

“In my head at first there is a huge flood of images”, Maxine Doyle gives an insight into the way they work. One of the things Zoe Gyssler can emphasize the cooperation with the Englishwoman of her experience: “Maxine has an over-flood of images in her head. She introduces herself very many things and jumps like lightning from an inner frame to the next, so it is sometimes a challenge for us to follow her. The precise, final structure seeks and finds it only towards the end of the work process. “

The “After Lethe” is clearly visible how much Maxine Doyle is guided by visual images in the development of their pieces, for repeatedly arise on stage effective, memorable images of sometimes cinematic quality that can arouse very different personal memories in the viewer , Matthieu Götz has created an engaging stage, leads the dancers and the audience to a not clearly identifiable place of a night bar, an orphaned Concourse, an abandoned hotel reception or to a cellar offering both protection and claustrophobic can act, like remember.

In any case, it seems to be a place of passage, whose provision is not geared to make people root here, but the purpose of which seems almost to lie in after a period of lingering to be left again.

The stage and the props set for the dancers initially quite a challenge, Zoe Gyssler remembers with a grin: “The many water on stage plus the ashes, which stirs up during a scene … we are often initially slipped or had this ashes in the mouth. It was also difficult with the low light that prevails on stage to cope. “

“After Lethe” have the effect of an almost epic tale in which the individual dancers are assigned to clear characters. Thus we witness on the stage waiting, grieving, traveling, celebration funny or drug-addicted individuals, all in fear under their respective surface, disoriented and act like on the run.

The for embodying characters were assigned to the dancers of Maxine Doyle. “In the run-up Maxine videos had been viewed by us dancers to be able to make a first impression of us can,” says Zoe Gyssler. “And during the first days of joint work we have done a lot of exercises that had not had much to do with the actual piece. We were, for example, little cards on which tasks were short, it was physically implement. They will have decided who fits which role. “

Maxine Doyle pointed Zoe Gyssler and Victor Rottier the roles of two drug addicts to. “She gave us a video of two crackheads shown that tried to beat each other, but have it do not get, because they do not have sufficient control over their bodies. Maxine was interested in the physical aspect of these two and given us a mandate to find appropriate movement patterns this and develop. “

Thus, the audience gets in the approximately 40-minute at very different characters and thus also forms of movement on stage. will remain in memory certainly the solo of Shafiki Sseggayi who seems to win with every production of expressiveness, the great Gotaute Kalmataviciute that ensures the completion of the piece alone standing in the rain for a strong picture and the great funeral scene with a subsequent funeral solo Camilla Andersen Brogaard.

“That was an intensive process for me and all of us”

For the participating dancers the simultaneous development of two pieces means a special burden, especially since further productions, in which you are involved added. “That was an intensive process for me and all of us,” Zoe Gyssler admits. “What had to work two pieces, have at the same time nor our previous production” You will be removed “listed, were with” The Who’s Tommy “on tour and are also on the musical” Kiss me, Kate “involved. The were a lot of different information that had to be processed and also the constant jump between the individual productions was not easy. “

Event Horizon: “We are looking for our respective character at every performance

“Event Horizon”, the second piece of the evening, carrying with choreography by John Wieland an entirely different handwriting and acts much more abstract. Zoe Gyssler confirmed that the operation of Johannes Wieland is significantly different and provides interesting insights into the development process of the track from that Maxine Doyle.

“John has from the outset a very clear idea of the choreographic structure during the process and to about the performances but also is constantly changing. When drafting stood theatrical tasks, such as the display of “greed” in the foreground. Unlike Maxine we find in John our characters, of course, according to certain specifications, autonomously. We are looking for our respective character at every performance anew and thus discover new things constantly. “

The titular “event horizon” designates in physics the boundary in spacetime, for which it holds that any events beyond this limit are not observable. Information can not escape to the outside and seem to have disappeared so that through the event horizon. “I think the title does John set quite late”, suspected Zoe Gyssler. “I do not know why he chose this title. Perhaps he wanted to on the disappearance of resources such as water, which is what is mentioned in the piece, alluding. Where disappear these resources and are they ever actually gone? But these ideas approach is my personal interpretation. “

Social injustices, the questionable allocation of resources and the increasing commercialization of the circumstances call forth the desire for justice. With this topic, the second piece of the evening is dealing with the interest of choreographer Johannes Wieland, since the 2006/07 season, dance director of the State Theater Kassel, goes deeper.

“John have more interested psychological resources,” says Zoe Gyssler report. “What psychological resources a person needs in order to get out of a deep depression? What resources are required and must be activated when an intensely felt love remains unanswered and unfulfilled? Such questions we followed in the preparation of the piece. “

In the search for justice is also about the desire to see attention and gain an attention even appears to be appropriate. People want to be heard. In one scene, the dancers, like excited elementary school children who want to demonstrate their teacher that you know the correct answer or have something important to contribute to the teaching, with fingers and try to close to get to the edge of the stage to overlooked no snap to be ,

Pin Chieh Chen and Luca Ghedini

Source: N.Klinger

The stage is very different from that of “After Lethe”, because only a huge deer stands on the empty stage. “At stage John had initially another thought, which he rejected in the course of the process”, expresses Zoe Gyssler. “Then he had the idea with the deer, which symbolizes the nature, power and strength, but also fragility. The fact that the stage is empty otherwise, I think it’s great as a dancer. The obstacles are the other dancers basically. Since we run a lot in the play, we need to know exactly where the other are and where they will move next. This is one of the challenges in the piece. “

The pretty empty stage allows the viewer a clear view of the choreography and experience as Johannes Wieland knows how to change the tempo, to commute between soft and confused acting phases and always fluent put together a 16-piece ensemble to different constellations is great , In particular, it impressed when the entire ensemble performs in exciting group scenes and off the stage a captivating energy exudes who abruptly reaches the audience.

Among the 16 dancers are also some guest dancers who were hired specifically for this production. This is to integrate into the group, as was Zoe Gyssler, an important task, especially since the mutual trust within a dance ensemble was crucial. This did, however, works fine. “We have found each other very quickly. Many also knew each other from “Aurora” and other past productions and John has already a very good hand, when it comes to select people and combine them into a group. “

Pin Chieh Chen and Luca Ghedini

Source: N.Klinger

But artistically make the guest dancers an enormous enrichment, if one thinks, for example, to the great duet between Safet Mistele and Juan José Tirado Pulido or the excellent Pin-Chieh Chen, who dances a thrilling duet with Luca Ghedini and a reunion with the charming Rémi Benard, who was once engaged as a permanent member in Kassel, the audience is anyway always pleased.

Zoe Gyssler can be experienced in two longer speeches are recorded in which you with a confusing naivety lost from their previous lipstick reported. A mishap that makes them so upset, that she eventually would destroy the entire world. That Johannes Wieland confided her this opening scenes, she was very happy, “even when I was a little surprised that the text considerably longer than in the last production” You will be removed “was”, she adds with a laugh.

it is interesting to have to have worked for the first time in her career in a recording studio and a special challenge was the design of been out of Heiner Müller’s play “Hamlet Machine” quoted text passage. “Since I already had a lot of respect, because it is a well-known text up and I wanted to present him with the necessary, but not with exaggerated drama … that was a fine line … and still is.”

Source: N.Klinger

memorable images

Towards the end of the piece is the huge, powerful work Hirsch, but is just fragile, in flames. Again, this is a strong, memorable image from which this dance evening, with his two choreographies entirely different, numerous offers.

Anyone wanting to experience the dancers in search of justice and dancing with their own demons on the dry river Lethe, can tickets for other performances at the box office of the State Theater Kassel (Tel .: 0561 / 1094-222) or online at www. get staatstheater-kassel.de.

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