Alexandra Waierstall: Seconds in Clouds

In the organizer's words:

Light becomes sculptural material, music becomes the supporting ground, solos condense into pauses, duets merge into the group: With Seconds in Clouds, Alexandra Waierstall reacts to our present, which is characterized by acceleration, division and isolation. To this end, she presents her choreography as a social and temporal sculpture - visitors are invited to enter a different rhythm of time. A search for a sense of atmospheres, changing relationships and the fragile intensities of living together. Full of encounters, a fleeting structure of presence, attention and coexistence emerges - fragile, intense and in the moment.

Seconds in Clouds is the new work by Düsseldorf choreographer Alexandra Waierstall. In collaboration with lighting designer Caty Olive, composer and pianist Volker Bertelmann alias Hauschka and dancers of different generations, the piece develops into a changeable spatial composition based on the sculptural language of Rita McBride - in particular her work Arena Seating (1999, mahogany on plywood, steel, 216 x 216 x 198 cm). Minimal and sculptural, atmospherically characterized by alternating permeability and monumentality and carried by a fine concentration, presence and time constantly oscillate here.

Alexandra Waierstall, born in England, grew up in Cyprus and lives in Düsseldorf, works as a choreographer and artist with local roots and international appeal. Her conceptual-physical works are expressed in choreographies, installations, sounds, texts and images and are presented in theaters, galleries, museums, publications and public spaces. These include Dia:Beacon in New York, Musée du Louvre, Sadler's Wells, Dansenshus Oslo, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Mousonturm, Crossing Festival Beijing, Fringe Festival Shanghai, International Festival Seoul, Dansenshus Stockholm, Forum Mundial Sao Paolo, De Pont Museum, Kunsthalle Mannheim and Bauhaus Museum Dessau. She has also been invited to create pieces for the National Dance Company of Wales and tanzmainz, among others. Her work has been selected and supported by networks such as Aerowaves, Modul Dance, IDEE - Initiatives in Dance through European Exchange and Chin-A-moves. Her work has been co-produced by tanzhaus nrw since 2007. In 2025, the book And here we meet: Choreography at the edge of time was published by Theater der Zeit, a continuation of her work that opens up another space: pages that - despite their two-dimensionality - resonate, open up creative spaces by reflecting on past projects and raise questions for future work.

Duration: 70 min. + break