Tanz im August 1999

11th International Festival Berlin
12.8. – 29.8.1999


Internationales Tanzfest Berlin will once again show a wide array of dance works ranging from pure abstract movement to concrete conceptual statements. Due to the longstanding collaboration between presenters TanzWerkstatt Berlin and Hebbel-Theater, the festival has become one of the city's major annual events. It features daring, often experimental works from a younger generation of dance creators as well as the newest works by established companies of international acclaim. This year's program offers compelling works at nine different venues.

With the surfacing of a new generation of artists, the creative process and the aesthetics of dance have changed noticeably over the last decade. Rarely now is a single author responsible for the creation of a choreographic work. An updated dialogue is being pursued between choreographers, visual artists and musicians. At times, the choreographies of Meg Stuart and Vera Mantero remind one of living exhibits. Jérôme Bel and Emio Greco make use of sampling, looping and remixing techniques much in the manner of digital musicians. Their strong personal visions are at the forefront of dance and performance today, while those who preceded them - innovators such as Merce Cunningham, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Éduouard Lock and Saburo Teshigawara - continue to fascinate audiences everywhere.

As part of the festival, a workshop series directed by Goat Island, Stephen Petronio, Michael Laub, Anne Marie Benati, Dennis O'Connor and André Lepecki will explore the practical side of dance creation. Three "interventions" initiated by André Lepecki, Johannes Odenthal and Mårten Spångberg will investigate current themes and theories of performance while providing ample space for dialogue between audience, guest artists and theoreticians.

If theater is a place to physicalise ideas, as Reza Abdoh has claimed, this year's Internationales Tanzfest will be a place to hear new ideas expressed through movement.

(Foreword of Tanz im August programme magazine 1999 by Nele Hertling, Marion Ziemann, Ulrike Becker and André Thériault)

Venues 1999: Hebbel-Theater, Sophiensæle, Podewil, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Komische Oper, Deutsche Oper, Schiller Theater, Theater am Halleschen Ufer and Turnhalle Chausseestraße 96.

Programme

Meg Stuart, Ann Hamilton & Damaged Goods appetite
Michael Clark Company Current/SEE
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Moon Water
La La La Human Steps Salt
Déjà Donné Production Aria Spinta
Vera Mantero / O Rumo do Fumo Dichtung und Wildheit
Emio Greco & PC Fra Cervello e Movimento - Extra Dry
Rosas Drumming
Rui Horta.stage works Zeitraum Thespaceoftime
Raimund Hoghe Dialogue with Charlotte
Jérôme Bel The Last Performance
in situ production E.X.T.E.N.S.I.O.N.S. #1
Merce Cunningham Dance Company CRWDSPCR (1993), Rondo (1996), Biped (1999)
Saburo Teshigawara / Karas Absolute Zero

LADIES' NIGHT
Vera Mantero
one mysterious Thing, said e.e. cummings*
Virpi Pahkinen Saligram
Anna Koch Vocoder
Richard Move Martha@Tanzfest Berlin

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