On stage but i cant thats just the way it is. But if i can dance the special projects now and that im happy. In the early 1990 s. Left new york for a newly reunified berlin since then has had one success after the other we sat down with the energetic choreographer to talk about her rise from the french to major opera houses and her next job as co artistic director of the berlin state ballet. So formals as you started your company 25 years ago with your hands andy could you ever have imagined the International Success youve had since africa. Nonscented i noises after in 1903 after the fall of the berlin wall and shortly after enough occasion the Central District of measure was a place of seemingly endless opportunities. We any opened our venue in the safin sailor 3 years later in 1906 the year before that we were like nomads wandering from one industrial space to the next and each time we started up a nice change here as there is in fact life and fun from the outset we turned internationally we toured the us and our 2nd offered year we traveled to india and toured a lot in europe peeling off. So right from the start travelling was part of our identity it was our aspiration and our concept of those. Scenes of of all those selfish then missiles at us that we wanted to build bridges with our art and take it to different audiences to countries and cultures that also inspire our work. For the year off in so in that respect our life today isnt all that different than it was 25 years ago or. Its only one gets. Us off. Was its our. Sufyan zillah emitter once hosted meetings of left wing revolutionaries later it was used by the nazis then it was a fear workshop with its dilapidated charm and checkered history it was the perfect setting for such of arts as breakthrough production. And offbeat. Market of production part of a trilogy on the absurdities of domestic life the Company Research for months in communist era housing complexes. Initially russia vaults danced along with her ensemble but she was always striving for new forms of expression and cooperation with other artists for her dance along with never enough. Mind that i know. I began downs lessons with one teacher i started taking classes from the age of 5 and the teacher i was with the age of 12 had studied under mary whitman so i have a very very deep connection to german expressionist dance kind i just got up but it didnt really influence my decision to start dancing professionally because at the time i wanted to pursue a career in the visual arts. It was only through my discovery of post modern dance and contact improvise ation and all of these a consciousness techniques that i developed an interest in studying dont. This inquest into. The studio and in the life you generally dont produce strictly narrative pieces its not Dance Theatre which some critics hold against you. They say your work is to associate a verse serial or. Are you bothered by such criticism i get isnt the critic. Come i thought because i know to be honest i cant remember reading such reviews and normally i dont read reviews anyway. I see it on their air ferial dimension that is accessed through association is very important to me and in our communication with the audience then us i think thats purely one dimensional way of saying just one thing and everyone understands the same thing i find that boring. Through it. It has to be something that speaks to each individual in a unique way. The touches something deep down and each person in the audience. But it has to be entirely free. Of us with dance cries thats when the work becomes profound as it does when it touches on the mystery inside you. And that doesnt happen if youre simply telling a linear story. Lets hear it. Involves developed one of the most significant productions kerber during her 5 year stint as courtis to director of berlins shall be in a theater its an exploration of anatomy that delves into every aspect of the human body. Time and again the company conjures images that sear themselves into the viewers memory like a nightmare. At the same time vult isnt afraid of venturing into more abstract territory in her piece from when she takes dance back to its origins in ceremonial rituals. While her early works were wild her later choreography is feel more crafted for a 3 hour tour she transforms dancers into animalistic creatures and explore social issues like power and helplessness freedom and control. Your mother was a gallery astin your father an architect so you may have inherited your talent for strong visuals from the one side but space has also always played a key role in your work its very central. What do you look for in a space could you imagine staging a production for example at the building site of berlins new International Airport through coffin solution. Your outpost and. Your ass building sizes certainly and Trading Spaces and weve often rehearsed a building site the Jewish Museum had only just been complete it. Still empty well the collection hadnt yet been installed and the boys have usually we perform at that intermediary moment before the space assumes the function it was designed for so before the exhibit moves then spun off by the skeptic sizing because its really a moment that breathes life into a space its a real integration. By it that i came really clear to me with our work for balinese noiselessly on the how to off the space had this Incredible Energy that had been abandoned for so long and then undergone 12 years of reconstruction powered on the spot so it was intriguing for me to envision what it would become until way connected to life with darts past as im deal but what does tensors. Needs as well as will be for example we focused on the cult of the dead in a room that would display the past of queen efforts of course about the noise in the same house as a large injection collection and thats why i did a lot of research on ancient egypt let us yet on it get on so it also gives us inspiration not just the building and the architecture such as the site in its entirety that shows me how to put a space in motion that all done in the vehicles that only i in 2013 the company was invited to kolkata then calcutta to cap year of Cultural Exchange between india and germany off the production was staged in the courtyard in wings of an old private palace dating from colonial times. Such abouts collaborated on a project with the indian choreographer apartment each a tour and her ensemble i. Get my son. That was out of the project in calcutta i was very unusual it was an old palace so naturally a different way of telling stories emerged because the rooms had simply been sealed off and there was this life that had taken place previously as have time it stood still like a fairy tale when everyones fallen into a deep sleep and time goes on and the pictures on the mall fade to black and dust settles everywhere into papers on the bed it was really a very interesting experience. Having noise all the. Record of calling to a new genre the choreographic opera it incorporates elements of contemporary dance into operatic Stage Productions but it treats all parts as equals so its like i say music the dancers the singers in all embarrassing art form what appeals to you about working on the stages of major opera house is an institutions. First in your thoughts. For me spazz and then when told of how it was a great experience for me to be able to choreograph a body of people as a whole i and then of course in court and car park. So its not about the dancers on a choir and some lists anymore but about the group that now i hide and it becomes an entity and you cant really identify who is telling what and i extended that idea and began working with orchestras so that they also start moving start dancing so that the orchestra would also become run body once you can achieve an amazing dynamic in a room where sound literally moves. Then clung this. Is the the i am. Many of the worlds major opera houses were now open to her and parents tokyo and berlin. She would oversee the entire stage production managing to transform even the unwieldy medium of opera and give it her own signature. Is that. You said you often look for female protagonists in opera to medea was one of those how did you deal with her character. Shes usually condemned as the barbaric child murderer. In. The production coincided with the case of a mother here in germany who was on trial for murdering her children what approach did you take for the piece medea. Its been this im a citizen of the us bonde think well i think shes a very interesting character but shes also very ambivalent i wanted to take time to think about her intensively without judging inconceivable but now just imagine at what point as a woman capable of killing her children what extreme pain or despair do you have to experience to reach that point as a block so way since high point of hall. I found it very difficult to put myself in that position and direct the production. Of course i had to imagine and be part of it which at times was unbearable. Its a few and as a sniff it was really hard to give myself over to us what. Sponges. Might next take place. Kinds of the. Midair is one of the best known characters in greek mythology she famously helped jason in the argonauts retrieve the Golden Fleece jason binn marry her only to later leave her for another woman the daughter of the king crayon medea took revenge by killing crayon his daughter and her own 2 children to eat. In this production the children of the shovels and her husband york in zombie were part of the cast further intensifying the emotions felt by their mother. Did it in a sense for the children i was like playing it was a great experience for them they learned all the songs and the wonderful thing about theatre is that it is a lot like playing we play dead and then we all get up again. Should get to know my kids and your children more often with you during productions and while traveling or on tour and the dancers were with you to. Read up by it was like one big family for you but also for me if you sit down with. Babysitter and the tourist i always had babysitters with me. But they just spend a lot of time with the dancers during rehearsals. With intense and and when they were dancing too they were just part of the cast they didnt get any special supervision oil or no i always tried to have them with me so i never forced them to come by so i always asked of thats what they wanted one but i just wouldnt see enough of the children otherwise because we spent a lot of time working and at the theaters and were often out in the evening. Out of obviously weve tried to strike a balance. But fortunately both the children love dancing and singing and going to the theater and playing theater. So it seems that passion has been passed on to them. But hardly you have invested a lot of time in promoting young talent start you have the childrens dance company. Times company youve also been involved in dance in schools how important is that to you. The this this is in the. Yeah does as is. My interest in children stands actually came with my 1st child last. Asked me last fall i got on a workshop at a school and it grew from there and thats what the love i have to see i found it more and more interesting as i realized how important our interest particularly for children approaching puberty and the cop on interacting with other peoples bodies with their own bodies their own selfimage stuff because youre very much confronted with yourself in this process because youre working in a group lance if you learn a lot about Group Dynamics you get a nice spatial awareness how do i move within a room how do i stand in relation to somebody else im at least likely a great help in everyday life its not that Everyone Needs to become a dancer its about learning to live in your own body to feel your body and to feel at home when your body. And this is the whole thing. Is that. Last year you yourself danced again here at the ready as is tim for the project to her and. Do you mr insync would you like to do it more often. But. I love dont thing on stage but i cant do both if im choreographing a big piece i cant be on stage myself as well thats just the way it is but if i can dance for special projects now and then im happy. With a book its been really. One of those special projects superman or listen it offers dancers and artists from various parts of the world scope to interact and explore current political and social issues through art an opportunity for the shovels to explore and improvise to. As if the mystic at the root is on his you know passing on a growing number of pieces to outside Companies Including some abroad where your dancers oversee the rehearsals and if this is this is an opportunity to release the ensemble to work independently of you a line are but you can look up as i and yes this is a new branch of my work you could say. I think its good for experienced dancers to pass on what they know and that these compositions continue to live on and the Younger Generation feel it inside but many dancers who pass on works continue to dance themselves i think its good to give others the opportunity to be involved but it becomes like a whole new production the think you just passing something on but thats not actually the case i think that its like a new workout is i work on it marginalize i usually do a workshop of the dancers where i go through the entire piece as its intended with all the moves so that i know what its all about. Boys in that intensity of ive noticed that i cant do that a lot but its exciting to pass something on and watch it take on a new life on the scene it is that noise laden called. In the spring of this year the day after the live veal in lisbon performs national bounces piece of content. The dancers spend 5 weeks rehearsing the actual bouts then turned up to add the finishing touches. To of her experience dancers had overseen all the rehearsals everything from israel and cloudier show others from portugal. It was their job to help the dancers find their own style rather than just copying certain moves suddenly the 2 were working as equals alongside their longstanding boss i think its working relation of many years and the personal relation also you know so. Yeah. I think in that case gives a lot of trust like she gave it a responsibility to hand over the piece and she gives a trust and also we have been working with them for 5 weeks so we can actually we know them better than her in this situation so its a its a good thing that i still stay. In communication with each other for certain things and then some things she comes and she wants to bring it from the outside more her own home owner sensations and smell and to put something on top of what we brought but its its a long time collaboration so we are communicating in a very natural way that truly happy my so i still see things differently sometimes and i pass on the specific details that are important to me. But i know that the dancers ive chosen are very precise and that i can trust them and so far its worked very well touch wood and theres been no problems its been i enjoy being able to let go and step back a bit. The piece takes on a life of a time and its not a fixed creation rose and moves away from that back. When we have. That in now lets talk about your new production exodus which you did for the 25th anniversary of your dance company. Exodus from the greek both in the sense of departure and escape what led you to this idea. That had. I was the week and it was this idea of fleeing from more scaping from something finding a way out is that obviously we associated on the one hand with the bible and the exodus of the israel lights from egypt. But when youre in greece for example you see it written in every subway station many clubs and bars have adopted the name exodus. That fascinated me. On the one hand. You have this idea of a group thats running away their corporate fleet leaving one place and moving somewhere else in. It on this and i gather this process that takes place more in the mind. Is often cup when i will step out of your body into another dimension and to this technique trance or ecstasy patient off come to test next half or less gets very much about a Group Experience it includes going to and past the point of exhaustion what the audience. For and so thats like a journey to. A journey that lasts 2 and a half hours involving captivity then finding a way out and escaping it raises questions such as what were fleeing from and where to exodus is intense and heavy going and for now at least it will be the last production that sasha about stages with her company. She will remain the official director but she will leave the body as this dame it will continue as a production and performance venue for the company but she now has a new position shell become the 1st woman to head up the highly traditional berlin state ballet. But is not in 2019 youll take over as artistic director of the berlin state ballet alongside your highness or man are you excited maybe a bit apprehensive. Now is theres no cause and also wrong to start taking on the state ballet is certainly a major challenge so ive been preparing for it for 2 and a half or nearly 3 years i think. Its a very long process and yes i want to actually start the job until 2019 common. There were initially huge protests over the decision to appoint a contemporary choreographer to codirector state ballet the traditional dancers were not happy with that of art had actually worked with the state ballet before writing a solo piece for its former artistic director of light in their mother calls to great acclaim. These angry protests have now seen just. One thing is clear taking over the state ballet voxs biggest breakthrough today and a huge challenge. For 10 times the polish i think its a great opportunity for dance in general to explore these extreme positions of class or upper lip look its bizarre on the one hand to really press a classical ballet and the whole history and to stage classical productions that are very high level because one of the un and i dont have a hand to have contemporary choreographies with a contemporary language with all that arise he definitely all have different ways of using the body. To gain and the creation ensemble that is capable of working with both these extremes. Is extreme or its definitely a fascinating project. The other thing. Into the sunspot act. If you dont gather enough from id like to end by asking you what comes to mind when i say. Borders. Also the challenges we face today yes you know your reality to be as free as children now again. Our brains. Tranquility since learning etc because i dont know 90 percent or 95 percent of the top class. Im going to. Be. Making a splash. On the big stage the electronic movie has had its world premiere. Here comes the cooper se. A Sport Utility vehicle would score could knock out he is trying to figure says feed the cue weights into a sports car because the bottom really work as a sporty speedboats. Trying to catch them 30 minute song w. Its time to take stuff from a. Passion face to some. Time in europe just such the amount. And fun for the to. Her play is hard to overcome down triggers and connection playing the time for work. And you dont really use coming up ahead. Minus. Closely. Listen carefully to the assume she is going to do going to. Play discover the. Player. Subscribing to a documentary on you tube. The world is getting worse and the floors catastrophe a lot of problems the for the global 3000. 00 talks would seem british researchers to take a more optimistic view. The world is not always a good place but its much much fairer than it wasnt. Just the world really Getting Better in the face a global 3000 special reports. Starts august 19th something to blame. Blame blame blame blame. Blame. Blame blame blame blame blame blame blame. Blame. This is. From brilliant u. S. President donald trump on dams to Mass Shootings that claimed the lives of dozens of people react to get it stopped really going on for years with years and years of hard drugs here we have to go to. 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