Dance in the stream: “Mist” from the Nederlands Dans Theater
While Omikron is currently paralyzing one European dance company after the other and forcing cancellations from London to Milan, the Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague has made a cinematic pre-production. On Saturday at 12 noon and 8 pm, it will stream a moving and moving ritual on its website www.ndt.nl: “Mist” models dancers’ bodies like archaic sculptures into an enchanted foggy landscape. Where at first two or three knotted bodies push themselves out of the milky clouds of vapor, clouds of steam soon fill the whole picture. They float dense and impenetrable like banks of maritime fog.
The Nederlands Dans Theater, founded in 1959, is one of the crème de la crème of contemporary dance, and the choreographer Damien Jalet is one of the frontiers in the field. His art liquefies bodies and spaces; Paris has just tout him for the creation “Planet [wanderer]”Jalet designed the slippery environment of the kinetic spectacle together with the Japanese visual artist Kohei Nawa, who also invented the refined dry ice scenery for” Mist “. The inspiration came from the Shinto tradition: there, mist symbolizes the breath of the gods, which invigorates nature And so now the eighteen dancers of the Nederlands Dans Theater disappear in a three-dimensional sfumato, are apparently swallowed completely without a trace – only to dig their way out of the walls of fog, inch by inch.
The trance-like prelude is followed by a whipping intermezzo: bodies bend and bend like plant structures, are propelled forward by invisible elemental forces under the thunder and howls of wind. Suddenly the energy runs dry and Rahi Rezvani’s camera caresses fingers, hair and faces. From a bird’s eye view, light and dark figures fit together like chain links until the arrangement finally breaks down into individual columns of light and smoke.
“Crap” works like a parable. The labyrinthine architecture with its streaks, gullies and swirls of tiny water droplets reflects our confusing present. Those looking for consolation will find it here. Dorion Weickmann
The comic “The Artist” by Anna Haifisch about a lovable artist
It must be a rumor that only artists love stories about artists. Anna Haifisch’s comic protagonist, who is now in the third volume as “The Artist” slagging around and primarily harbors unattainable motivation for advancement, is in any case extremely adorable. “The world will be adorned with his name and will not even be able to spell it,” said an “Intermezzo” after the “fifth act” (which, by the way, takes place at Art Basel in Miami). Because the latest comic by the Leipzig illustrator, “The Artist. Ode to the Feather” (published by Reprodukt Verlag), is written in opera form. Haifisch had originally written her book with rhyming texts in English, but was no longer able to translate it back himself. The writer Marcel Beyer finally brought it into German. Miryam Schellbach
A classical CD about a gallant master poet: La Comtesse de Suze
An “agrément infini”, an infinite pleasure, felt the great critic and misogynous taste expert Nicolas Boileau in the verses of the Comtesse de Suze. The Comtesse, who died in 1673, is one of the few women who succeeded in writing at the time. She, who proudly had her name printed on her publications, was the star of the Parisian salons and celebrated love in elegantly gallant verses, which often show the woman as a spurned lover. Contemporaries were addicted to this poetry, which inspired musicians to melancholy, sensual songs. Myriam Rignol, Angélique and Marc Maullion, whose baritone goes well with this sound poetry, have put these songs together on a double CD that makes the listener long for the Paris salons. (Harmonia Mundi). Reinhard Brembeck
“Tokyo Ride” by Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine.
(Photo: Bêka & Lemoine)
For wanderlust: the film “Tokyo Ride”
The New Year starts with resolutions that are easy to implement and fun. Therefore: watch less Netflix trash a la “Emily in Paris”, instead watch more films with substance. For example “Tokyo Ride” by filmmakers Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine. Because in the 90 minutes the two, Ryue Nishizawa, one of the most interesting architects in the world, manage to get so close that one begins to understand why the Japanese keep turning the built world upside down in his work. For the documentary, the filmmaker duo, who have been making great light-footed architectural films for several years, squeezed themselves into the old Alfa Romeo from Nishizawa and let themselves be driven through Tokyo in the pouring rain. And everything that can be seen behind the misted windows immediately arouses wanderlust. Laura Weissmüller
Art Detectives: The Board Game “Taskforce: Saving Antiquities”
200 years ago Heinrich Schliemann was born, but the less heroic aspects of his excavations have only recently become interested. Up to now hardly anyone else has asked how this or that piece got into the museum. That has changed with the debates about Nazi-looted art, the Gurlitt “treasure”, the Parthenon frieze and art from Europe’s colonies. You are surprised to find that the story of a work of art can be more interesting than the work itself, even if not always as beautiful. The scientists at the Berliner Antike-Kolleg believe that provenance research, a discipline that used to be considered boring, is so entertaining that, with the support of the Volkswagen factory, they have now turned it into the “Taskforce: Saving Antiquities” board game. What is the pearl that is on sale in an online auction house? Where does the dubious relief come from that a collector wants to loan to a museum? These and other cases must be cleared up by the players with the help of a number of experts. Little by little, the art detectives, including an archaeologist, a policewoman, a professor and others, collect their knowledge and the clues they find. The relief was exhibited in a private collection in Göttingen. This type of headdress is known as a burial gift from dignitaries. And, oh, the Italian customs never approved the export! In between, penalty cards throw the investigation back again and again. Because the day care center is closed, the curator has to look after his children; now it has to go on without his expertise. A server crash put the laboratory out of action. Public pressure increases the stress level.
The next “settler” will be “Saving Antiquities” probably not be. And before the players set out to solve the mystery of the pearl and the riddle of the relief, quite a few will fail because of another tough nut to crack: the complex rules of the game. Nevertheless: The fact that scientists invest their time in a funny and lovingly made game instead of the next lecture in order to inspire the youngsters is definitely to be welcomed. Jörg Häntzschel