Performance: Compagnie Giolisu: „Le Contraire de Un“

In the organizer's words:

Performance SO, 07.09. 14:00 "Le Contraire de Un" // Dance performance for two dancers and a bench // Compagnie Giolisu (Brussels, BE)

Location: Music pavilion in the Hofgarten / near Jägerhofallee

"Le contraire de Un" is a poetic act in urban space. The starting point is a public bench: a place of rest and a meeting point. It is a physical place that brings people together, that becomes a point of reference, a home for some - that can be an opportunity to create unexpected dialogs in our cities. Our idea developed during the months of corona isolation while walking in the parks and neighborhoods. The benches had become inaccessible, transformed into places of risk and danger; access was blocked with ribbons. We realized that these spaces for resting and meeting had lost their function.

We wanted to turn a bench into a place of theatrical creation; we want to sit there and create a world that gradually builds itself out of everyday situations. We use the existing street furniture and adapt to the formal limitations of the bench and its geographical location. We start from a concrete situation: sitting on a bench, talking, exercising, approaching or moving away. Pulling, pushing, lifting the other person up. The bench becomes a metaphor for dreams, fears and situations that speak of our feelings. It brings out our desires and perspectives, our unspoken fragilities. We use the means of urban dance and the language of dance theater. The aim is not to focus on virtuosity, but on the sensitive areas of each of us.

An event by Küppers & Konsorten in cooperation with the Theatermuseum Hofgartenhaus Düsseldorf.

Supported by the Kulturamt Düsseldorf, Soziokultur NRW, BürgerStiftung Düsseldorf, Stiftung van Meeteren and MoveArts e.V.