On October 15th, 2022 at 6 p.m. the German Dance Prize 2022 will be awarded to Christoph Winkler in the Aalto Theater Essen. The Zafraan Ensemble is there with Radical Minimal and warmly congratulates Christoph Winkler on this award.
With “Radical Minimal” the Berlin company Christoph Winkler wants to develop new perspectives on the interplay between minimal music, contemporary dance and diversity. To this end, three well-known, classically abstract pieces of minimal music are explored and reinterpreted using our own thematically oriented choreographies: “Come Out” by Steve Reich, “Coming Together” by Frederic Rzewski and “Stay on it” by Julius Eastman. The development of the choreographies is based on the reception history of the pieces in music and dance as well as on their respective connection to the American civil rights movement.
The thematic approach is particularly impressive in the example of Steve Reich: “Come out” distorts the testimony of a young, African-American man who was arrested during the Harlem riots in 1964 and became a victim of police violence. The composition further distorts his voice through progressive sound layering and thereby anticipates the media reproduction of tragic individual fates, which are familiar to today’s audience from the context of Black Lives Matter. With AT Kersmaeker’s choreography, the piece became a classic of contemporary dance, although it tends to conceal the theme of the original text. In “Radical Minimal” the original context will now become more visible through a reworking together with Adebajo Oluwafemi Israel and Rasheed Ridwan from the Nigerian The Future of Dance Company.
In “Radical Minimal” all three compositions will be combined into a joint live performance with the Zafraan Ensemble and other international guest musicians, in which a separate choreographic language will be developed for each piece. Additionally, an expanded film version is planned for a larger audience.
CREDITS
Concept: Christoph Winkler | Music: Zafraan Ensemble – Flute: Liam Mallett – Saxophone: Martin Posegga – Clarinet: Miguel Pérez Iñesta – Percussion: Daniel Eichholz – Piano: Clemens Hund-Göschel – Violin: Emmanuelle Bernard – Viola: Josa Gerhard – Cello: Martin Smith | By and with: Oluwafemi Israel Adebajo, Lisa Rykena, Aloalii Tapu, Ridwan Rasheed, Raha Nejad, Sophie Prins, Andromeda Gervásio | Costume: Marie Akoury | Video editing: Gabriella Fiore | Video contribution: Vadim Epstein, Matthias Härtig | Technical management: Fabian Eichner | Production manager: Laura Biagioni
A production by the Christoph Winkler company in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE.
Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Federal Cultural Foundation with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media.
