Towards the End

Towards the End

Friday, October 9th, 2009

It’s one more week and we are getting to the last part of the Berlin Wall Project. Witnessing just the premiere of Wallstories in Washington DC was a strange feeling. It was a surreal experience seeing the dance on stage after living with the images in my head for month and month. It was like passing on an experience that everybody could feel but not really explain or put it into words.

Now focusing on the site specific aspect of the production the concert work Wallstories feels like a distant memory.

 

Why site specific?

 

Being present during the fall of the wall and the celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate as well as “Checkpoint Charlie,” I still vividly remember the energy and hope that was present during the marching of thousands of East Berliners into West Berlin. Having been to Berlin last year it was amazing to see how the presence of the Wall changed. The East Side Gallery remains as a great symbol. The Wall as a symbol of oppression has been turned into a symbol of art and entertainment. There are many paintings on the East side on the wall and on the West side you have a strip of Dance clubs along the Canal.

 

The range of experience from oppression to protection to liberation as well as the (in)ability of individuals/collectives to (re)make this reality is what motivates this component of the work.  Although similar themes are addressed in the film and the concert work, the site specific nature of the work on the day of remembrance/celebration is essential for creating an air of immediacy and authenticity in the piece but it is also important because it relies/draws upon the interaction with the audience, becoming yet another element within the work itself.  As the dancers move through the range of experiences (that both they and the audience members have gone through in some manner), all will be transported backward in time – across the experiences, as well as forward into the present and future.  So please join us as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

   

 

Be there when we take the Berlin Wall Project to the streets!

 

On the anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago this unique site-specific performance will move through the streets of NYC's Lower East side on 

November 9th, 2009

at 6 pm - 

be moved and move with us 

from 

Ludlow 38 Gallery 

to 

the Goerthe Institut's Wyoming Building

(event is free, reception to follow)

 

For event details, visit www.goethe.de or click here

 



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