The length of the performance is approximately 60 minutes.
Interview
from when the performance premiered in Febuary 2023.
Birthing and dying
Birth and death, the beginning and end of every life are the starting point of ‘Passage - rehearsal for birthing and dying’. Together with five performers and a live musician, choreographer Daphna Horenczyk traces these two very different yet similar moments in life. Daphna Horenczyk reveals more about the genesis of the piece in this interview.
You called your current production "Passage - rehearsal for birthing and dying". Why did you decide to call the performance a "rehearsal"?
Daphna Horenczyk: The word 'rehearsal' came from the idea of meditating on birthing and dying as a preparation for those moments when they come. Instead of avoiding our death, we look it in the eye and accept that this is just the body. We understand that our body entails ancestral knowledge about how to give birth therefore we can let go of our attempt to control it and simply let it do its natural job. These acceptances must be practiced and embodied; thus, we can separate pain from suffering and observe sensations as they come. These ideas are the building blocks of the piece.
Birthing and dying, the beginning and end of every life - how did the theme for the performance come about and what influenced you to do it?
Daphna Horenczyk: My recent life experiences presented me with a new perspective from which to explore this topic. In 6 months, I experienced my child's birth and my father's death. During the hours of labor before the first breath of my child, I was facing acute pain that blurred every rational thinking pattern and distorted my perception of time. There was no way for me to think or act linearly or methodically. I was in and out of my body at the same time, and it was beautiful. When I heard my father moaning in his last hours, I felt he was going through something similar. I could identify with his pain and struggle, and through his mumbling, I could sense he was in an altered state of consciousness. I think that the spiritual journeys of these processes, birthing and dying, are dramatically overlooked in our culture and therefore I would like to address them in public.
NADUVE, who is responsible for the live sound, will be on stage together with the performers. How did this setting come about?
Daphna Horenczyk: Since this performance is dealing with the tension between knowledge and uncertainty, the set and the spontaneous, it was essential for me to have the music played live. I was thinking of sounds that could support a meditative, transformative state, but not necessarily in the obvious way. I then had in mind to use club music. I have known Naduve for 10 years and apart from having a good working relationship, I admire him as a DJ. From discussions we had throughout the years, I felt we have a common understanding as to the state of the body and mind I was searching for. Also, as we both come from Tel Aviv we often have similar references which helps a lot in the work.
You developed the choreography for "Passage - rehearsal for birthing and dying", it will be performed by Evandro Pedroni, Martina de Dominicis, Alina Bertha, Jolyane Langlois and Alberto Cissello. What was your collaboration like and how did you go about developing the performance?
Daphna Horenczyk: I started by inviting each performer for an individual 3-days research session. We explored the state that defines this work by meditating on one's birth and death. I was surprised by how deep each performer was willing to dive, and how bravely they all confronted their fears while improvising generously from this state. Moving from this state of openness, perceptiveness, and alertness allowed the performers to explore unfamiliar territories of creativity, expand their horizons of possibilities, and discover new paths of performativity. I then worked with them in different constellations, but still not with all 5 together, to understand if and how these experiences can co-exist. Only recently we met all together in the studio when each of them had already had their individual experience and history with this practice. Then we worked on intertwining these experiences as well as on finding a common one.
About the piece
In Passage - rehearsal for birthing and dying, 5 performers and one musician navigate through journeys in a birthing/dying-like state. They are existing in this transcendental state of consciousness accompanying birthing and dying; a state that forces one’s entire existence to the here and now and where pain and fear become material sources of inspiration. Moving from this state of openness, perceptiveness, and alertness offers an exploration of unfamiliar territories of creativity, expansion, multiple identities, and new paths into the subconscious. As the performers gradually submerge into transcendence in stillness, movement, and in sound, the viewer is invited to dive into an individual's process of dealing with birth and death, culminating in a collective celebration of life.
Premiere: 7.11.2024, 19.00
Additional dates: 8. & 9.11.2024, 19.00
Credits
Choreography
Daphna Horenczyk
in collaboration with the performers
Evandro Pedroni, Martina de Dominicis, Alina Bertha, Jolyane Langlois, Alberto Cissello
Music
NADUVE
Light
Bruno Pocheron
Costume
Evandro Pedroni
Outside Eye
Costas Kekis
Production
Sophie Menzinger, partner in crime
Eine Koproduktion von Daphna Horenczyk und WUK Performing Arts. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien und Im_Flieger, Arbeitsplatz, Raum33 - Company Elio Gervasi, Bears in the Park.
Biographies
Daphna Horenczyk (she/her) is a dance artist based in Vienna. After graduating from the professional dance training program in Kibbutz Ga’aton, Israel, she moved to Salzburg to study in SEAD both in the performance and choreography programs. During her studies, she created 3 pieces which toured in Germany and Israel. Since 2012 Daphna has been choreographing independently for stage and film. Her work was presented in various venues and festivals in Israel and Europe, such as Wuk (AT), MASH, Intimadance and Suzanne Dellal Center (IL), No Ballet, PAD Mainz and Schwere Reiter (DE), MAAT (PL), the National Theater of the Faroe Islands (FO) and more. In addition, she is performing in pieces from choreographers such as Ceren Oran (TR/DE), Amanda Piña- Nadaproductions (CN/MX/AT), Andrea Bozic (HG/NL), Anne Juren (FR/AT), Ariel Cohen (IL) as well as many other collaborations. Daphna is the recipient of Startstipendium from the Austrian Federal Chancellery (2019).
Costas Kekis (he/him) (dramaturg) In the past few years I have been navigating through different roles in the frame of creative choreographic processes, as a choreographer, performer or dramaturgical assistant. My own works 80m/min, What u lookin’ at, Zombie attitude and Vivid have been shown in various venues and festivals including Ostern Tanztage (Salzburg), Altera Pars Theatre (Athens), 100 Grad Festival (Berlin), Raw Matters, TQW. I have collaborated with Eve Chariatte in Ultra XYX, and with Quim Bigas for Brunswick Centre 1970’s. A more steady collaboration developed with Petr Ochvat and Anna Prokopová between 2014 and 2018. It resulted in Corpse of a dance piece (Imagetanz festival Brut) and It beats soft in the veins (WUK, Impulstanz festival 8:tension series). My last creative collaboration has been with Anna Prokopová and Andrea Gunnlaugsdóttir for Knuckles become clouds (TQW). As a dramaturg or choreographic assistant I have worked since 2016 with Magdalena Chowaniec for Sanctuary, Claire Lefèvre and Evandro Pedroni for S/M Stage Made, Andrea Gunnlaugsdóttir and Laia Fabre for And all in between, Fanni Futterknecht for We will not let you go, and Lau Lukkarila for Nyxxx.
Martina De Dominicis (she/her) (performer) is Vienna based dance artist and choreographer. After a career with several institutional dance companies in Europe, Martina collaborated as a performer with choreographers Rafaele Giovanola (DE/CH), Georg Blaschke (AT) and Veza Maria Fernandez (AT). In 2019 she co-founded an artistic duo collective in Vienna called Debocs and their creations have been shown in Austria, Germany, Croatia and Italy. In line with a methodology that flows in between practice, movement analysis and theory, Martina is now enrolled into the Movement research Master program at the Bruckner Private University in Linz. Since 2018 she is sharing her movement research practice in several contexts such as ZZT Dance University in Köln, MAA Kulturverein Wien, Otto Falkenberg Schule in Munich, Dancearts Boris Nebyla in Vienna.
Alina Bertha (she/her)(performer) ist freischaffende Tänzerin und Choreografin und lebt in Wien. Sie studierte an der University of Roehampton, an der Anton Bruckner Uni und an der Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Als Tänzerin arbeitete sie unter anderem für die Choreografen Dorian Kaufeisen, Evangelos Poulinas, Francesco Scavetta und Jarek Cemerek, sowie für die österreichischen Tanzkompanien Hungry Sharks und Ich bin OK. Sie ko-choreografierte How I see you (2016) und we can't stop the river (2017) mit Lukasz Czapski und choreografierte Nah|Fern (2018). Zurzeit arbeitet sie unter anderem mit den bildenden Künstler_innen Elena Kristoffor, Laura Sperl und Sara-Lisa Bals. 2019 erhielt sie das Trainingsstipendium des TQW.
Evandro Pedroni (he/him)(performer, costume designer) lebt und arbeitet als Performer und Choreograf in Wien. Seine Arbeiten wurden bei Brut (AT), Eintanzhaus (DE), HochX Theater und Live Art (DE) sowie auf Festivals wie Imagetanz (AT), PAD - Performance Art Depot (DE) und FAKI 18 (HR) usw. präsentiert. Auf der Bühne war er unter anderem in Produktionen von Martin Nachbar, Oleg Soulimenko, Hubert Lepka, Stella Zannou, SETanzTheater, Akemi Takeya, Elisabeth Tambwe, Cie. Willi Dorner und La_Trottier Dance Collective zu sehen. Daneben entwickelt er eigene künstlerische Arbeiten und Kollaborationen als Performer, Choreograf, Outside Eye und Kostümentwickler.
Jolyane Langlois (performer) is a Canadian dance artist currently based in Vienna. Jolyane started her dance education at L’UQAM in Montréal and graduated from the professional training program at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2012. Since then, she has been involved in many productions around the globe as performer and co-creator. In Austria, she can be seen in the works of Magdalena Forster, Daphna Horenczyk, Dorian Kaufeisen, Gat Goodovitch, CieLaroque/Helene Weinzierl and VRUM Performing Arts Collective. Through movement, she is interested in expanding what she believes as possible, chasing ways of transcending the senses and exploring new paradigms of togetherness and responsiveness. She uses her dance practice as a catalyst for transformation.
Alberto Cissello (he/him)(performer) is a dance artist, teacher and choreographer currently living in Vienna. At present, he regularly collaborates with the Salzburg-based choreographer Helene Weinzierl, touring her pieces nationally and internationally. Since 2009, Alberto has been working for several dance companies such as EgriBianco Danza, Oper Graz Tanzkompanie and Norrdans. In Vienna, he was part of the creation and performance Sonic Textures by Eva-Maria Schaller, a co-production with D.ID Dance Identity. In 2019, he co-initiated, together with Martina De Domincis, www.debocs.com, an ongoing documentation project related to their choreographic research as a duo. Together, they created and premiered the piece yet to be born in Bonn in December 2019. As a teacher, Alberto has held workshops for different venues and festivals such as TQW, MUK, Internationale Bühnenwerkstatt, Divadlo Štúdio Tanca, tanzimpulse Salzburg, Universidad Nacional de Heredia, and Play Practice Artistic Residency Bangalore.
NADUVE / Nadav Reboh (musician) is an electronic musician, producer and sound artist. He is actively releasing dance music at some of the cutting edge labels of the underground/Leftfield electronic music world such as: Disques De La Mort, Hivern Discs and Cocktail D’amore. He is playing as a DJ and with his band Shame On Us in festivals and clubs around the world. Nadav wrote music for films, dance shows and exhibitions that were presented in the Jerusalem Film Festival, Suzanne Dellal Centre for Dance and Theatre and Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art amongst others. Recently he curated, produced and co-written a tribute to electronic music concert with the Israeli chamber orchestra.
Bruno Pocheron (light designer) wurde 1968 geboren, studierte Kunst in Paris und lebt in Berlin. Er arbeitet in internationalen Zusammenhängen, zumeist als Lichtdesigner, aber auch als technischer Leiter, Bühnenbildner und Tondesigner. Gemeinsam mit Isabelle Schad und Ben Anderson initiierte er die Gemeinschaftsplattform „Good Work“, die sich mit der Darstellung und Wahrnehmung des menschlichen Körpers auf der Bühne und in der Gesellschaft beschäftigt. Derzeit arbeitet er an Bühnenprojekten von Judith Depaule (Paris), Anne Juren (Wien), Alix Eynaudi (Wien), Jana Unmüssig (Berlin), An Kaler (Berlin/Wien), Martin Nachbar (Berlin) und Annie Dorsen (New York). Er ist einer der Organisatoren von Wiesen55, einem gemeinschaftlichen Arbeitsraum in Berlin-Wedding und von Gangplank, einem offenen Netzwerk mit Schwerpunkten auf intermedialer Kommunikation, den Beziehungen zwischen Technologie und Kunst und den Berührungspunkten zwischen diesen Feldern, die in der Performance-Arbeit spürbar werden. Er entwickelt Open Source-Schnittstellen in PureData, die eine fließende Kommunikation zwischen Licht, Ton und Video ermöglichen und erforscht die dramaturgischen Wirkungen dieser Elemente.
Sophie Menzinger (production manager) is a cultural manager from Hamburg who currently lives and works in Vienna. In 2021 she successfully completed her master's degree in cultural and media management at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg. Prior to her master's studies, she initially worked as a social worker and as curator and organizer in the socio-cultural center Kölibri in Hamburg St. Pauli. During her studies she worked in the artistic administration and the production for festivals and as an assistant to curator Tina Heine. Inspired by intersectional feminist practices, she strives for an empathetic and solidarity-based work environment. Since moving to Vienna in August 2021, she has worked for productions in performance, contemporary dance and new media art, including Lau Lukkarila, Stina Fors, Johanna Nielson, Agnes Schneidewind, Stefano D’Alessio and Luigi Guerrieri.
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