Arts Review: Dance, dance, dance in Berlin

As it is well known, Berlin is a grand capital for dance, be it classic or modern or simply bizarre, and when visiting Berlin you should definitely see dance performances here, writes arts critic Sabine ‘Bee’ Koch.

The Staatsballett Berlin, is the largest ballet company featuring about 80 international dancers performing across three major opera houses in Berlin and who continue to put on outstanding works.

My personal TOP 3 of their past season were:

ONE: The fabulous  BOVARY with the heart-breaking Principal Dancer Weronika Frodyma in the title role. Based on Gustave Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary, which caused a scandal due to its unflinching portrayal of adultery and forbidden desires, this work by choreographer Christian Spuck has at its centre Emma Bovary, a woman trapped in the confines of provincial life, the monotony of a loveless marriage, and the desires that threaten to overwhelm her existence. Her passion for beauty, glamour, and pleasure grows with every page of cheap novels and every fashion illustration from Paris, drawing her into a world that is both unattainable and irresistibly seductive.

Bovary (c) Photo Sabine Koch

TWO: The mysterious WUNDERKAMMER, which was indeed a wonder and left me almost speechless, is a work by Marcos Morau, Artist in Residence at the Staatsballett Berlin, who evokes familiar places with his unmistakable stage worlds, while simultaneously transforming them into dreamlike and surreal realms with echoes of Berlin’s club culture and the cabarets of the Weimar Republic.

Both are on again in the coming season.

THREE: I also adored the utterly enchanting SOMMERNACHTSTRAUM (Midsummer Night’s Dream) which was a triumph all around – excellent dancers, above all the brilliant Leroy Mokgatle as Puck, who was awarded the Daphne Award by the Berlin Theatre Association on night of the performance, and magnificent music by Milko Lazar with a clever stage design. It will take a break in the upcoming season, but hopefully will be back soon. 

And I’m not even talking about NUREYEV, 2 CHAPTERS LOVE or FEARFUL SYMMETRIES, all hits, all well worth seeing!

Simply too much to choose from.

Sasha Waltz at BERLINER FESTSPIELE

Still, there is dance life outside of the Staatsballett. One powerhouse of the Berlin scene is, of course, Sasha Waltz, who has defined modern ballet in the city for decades. Her work has been initiated in two major venues SOPHIENSAELE and RADIALSYSTEM and she and her company Sasha Waltz & Guests put on excellent work in their home venues and even in BERLINER FESTSPIELE where this year, she was showing two works during the 75th season of the popular festival.

A two-part choreography with the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and new music by Diego Noguera titled BEETHOVEN 7  and  IN C was presented in the wonderful Festspielhaus. By the way, I loved the change in venue, as I am not so fond of the Radialsystem. The performances went on during the height of the this year’s Berlin summer with the audience sweating alongside the dancers. I did enjoy BEETHOVEN 7, especially Sasha Waltz’s “classic” contribution, but I wasn’t utterly convinced by IN C –  contemporary electronic music which transitions into Beethoven’s complete, four-movement Symphony No. 7.  As always, art is subjective just like taste. But even if you don’t like some aspects of her work, there is no denying the impact of Sasha Waltz.

SLEEPLESS WORLD by Boris Randzio

Always on the look out for new choreographers and dance groups, I was intrigued by an unassuming black and white poster for SLEEPLESS WORLD. I even saw the choreographer Boris Randzio handing out flyers for his performances in front of the Festpielhaus. This kind of grassroots marketing works here in Berlin, a city that fancies itself for being unpretentious. So off I went to St. Elisabeth-Kirche, a historic church left in ruins in WWII, restored and has now been used as a cultural venue for more than two decades. It is a rather small venue of 300 or so seats and that made it perfect for Randzio’s choreography of a text by Stefan Zweig on the collective panic, anxiety, and psychological trauma of a society gripped by the sudden, violent onset of war. The foreboding words of the Austrian poet captured the time it was written – 1914, on the cusp of World War I, and it speaks to us in the now –  times that are unsure and full of tension.

The great dancers (all obviously classically trained) used the space and their bodies in it admirably. The movements feed off the broken architecture and the eclectic music which spanned a broad net from classical Johann Sebastian Bach to modern Radiohead always drawing the audience in. The intimacy was made easier by the layout which has you sitting as close to the action as possible. It was a thrilling evening and the spectators thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! I was glad to see, that the organisers even had to bring in more chairs, to accommodate all. Another sign, that the dance scene in Berlin is a big hit with audiences from high-end productions at the Deutsche Oper to off-off performances in unusual venues.

Berliners appreciate the fabulous offerings and will come dancing in droves.

With the new season of Tanz im August (Dance in August) just about to begin, I am excitedly looking forward to more dance, dance, dance!