Dance2Narration
Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company & Ioannis Mandafounis
This two-part evening brings together two pieces that combine dance with narration and experiment with what can emerge from this connection. The result is a multi-layered dialog between dance and narration in which the two complement but also contradict each other. Instead of a rigid relationship in which everything fits together seamlessly like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, a structure develops that gives the audience the opportunity to discover connections for themselves.
The piece “Bis.N.S. (as usual)” by Ioannis Mandafounis uses a documentary audio recording of the encore given by the singer and civil rights activist Nina Simon at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival. In the encore (“bis” in French), she repeatedly interrupts her program. In conversation with the audience, very intimate moments arise in which her personality is revealed. “Bis.N.S.” plays with the inner and outer worlds of artists and explores the thin line between what happens on and off stage. The audience thus experiences both the performance of a dance piece and, thanks to ever-changing shifts, how the dancers prepare for their performance. They rehearse their movements, repeat and correct themselves as if no one is watching. Small and large, personal and artistic moments follow one after the other: the normal of operations of dance – business as usual.
In “Scarbo” the audience is drawn into the innermost world of the dancer the longer she dances. A world replete with sadness, anger, joy, helplessness and strength. Those are the feelings the dancer expresses through her movements – immediately and unfiltered. Showing ourselves in such diverse states is a freedom we rarely allow ourselves. This shared intimacy is the core of “Scarbo”. During the piece, the audience is free to consider whether the states in question are real or fictional, memories of the past or a personal story being told.
Duration: ca. 2 h with break
Language: English
Premiere Party 08.02.
Following the performance, the DFDC cordially invites you to the premiere party.
Audience Discussion 11.02. & 16.02.
Find out more about the background to the production and the artists involved. The talk will be held in English.
Closing 17.02.
On the last day of the performance, the DFDC invites the audience to end the evening with them at the bar. Get to know the ensemble in an intimate atmosphere.
The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is a contemporary dance ensemble under the artistic direction of Ioannis Mandafounis. It develops, presents and communicates dance with the desire to bring people together, inspire and excite them about dance. The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company combines contemporary thinking and dance tradition by experimenting and rethinking and developing traditional notions of choreography. Ioannis Mandafounis’ understanding of dance is unmistakable: the application of the methodology he has developed brings to the stage a dance and choreographic result that is improvised but appears as if planned. This empowers the artists and creates a collaborative process between the dancers and the audience.
The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is at home at the two residency venues HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts in Dresden and the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main and, as an internationally sought-after ensemble, regularly goes on guest performance tours. It offers a comprehensive range of educational and mediation services with the aim of facilitating cultural and aesthetic experiences regardless of origin, socialization, education, age and physical condition.
The Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company is supported by the City of Dresden and the Free State of Saxony as well as the City of Frankfurt am Main and the State of Hesse. Company-in-Residence at HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts Dresden and at the Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt am Main.
