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Freedom through dance: RTL+ invites you to “Disko 76”
Doro (Luise Aschenbrenner) and Robert (Jannik Schümann) have disco fever. photo
© Florian Kolmer/RTL+/dpa
Modern disco sounds in the dusty Ruhr area: The musical isko 76RTL+ series “Disko 76” is set in Bochum in the 1970s. That’s where social opposites collide – on the dance floor.
Bochum, 1976: Young Doro works in kindergarten, does the dishes and argues with her husband, who constantly confronts her about his desire to have children. In the middle of her family’s stuffy life, which is more reminiscent of the 1950s, a completely new world opens up for the dreamy Doro: In the six-part series “Disko 76”, which airs on Thursday (March 28th). When the streaming service RTL+ starts, German bourgeoisie meets the freedom-loving US disco sound of the 1970s.
Doro (Luise Aschenbrenner) discovers a secret disco and her passion for dancing at a US airbase with her two siblings. To the sounds of ABBA and Boney M., the prudish Germans throw all conventions overboard. Doro spends more and more time there, to the dismay of her traditional husband and her strict father. And then she falls in love with the attractive Robert (Jannik Schümann), who attracts everyone’s attention with his dancing skills.
The dusty Ruhr area (although filmed in Berlin and Budapest) serves as a perfect contrast to the colorful and flashy glitter world of the 70s disco wave. The music, which is also available as a playlist, and the dance performance make “Disko 76” an audiovisual experience – even if the dialogue occasionally comes across as very wooden.
Dancing is his hobby
For his role as the mysterious Robert, “Sisi” star Schümann had to take a lot of lessons, even though he had enjoyed dancing to jazz and hip-hop as a child. “Above all, I learned a lot of lifts and choreographies. It was really one of the best preparations I’ve ever had. Because dancing has always been my hobby.”
He also felt a certain amount of pressure during the strenuous shoot. “I had a massive responsibility for my dance partner, who I had to swing around my body and catch. I was the one who made sure she didn’t hit the floor upside down.”
In the series, Robert repeatedly shys away from Doro’s attempts to flirt, which is due to his unresolved past. Meanwhile, the dissatisfied wife has to decide – between her life as a housewife or as a nightly party girl.
Travel back in time to the 70s
The six episodes of “Disko 76”, which the RTL special interest channel Nitro broadcasts in one go on Easter Monday, not only bring the fashion and music of the 1970s back to the screens, but also show the social contradictions of this decade. The unconventional series also serves up a family drama, a love story and a criminal case, which seems a bit too ambitious at times.
Seen in other roles: Natalia Wörner (“The Diplomat”) and Merlin Sandmeyer, who was able to build up a larger fan base as a quirky supermarket detective in the improv comedy “Die Discounter”.
Information about the series