Radical Minimal at the Kühlhaus Berlin

The show Radical Minimal by the Company Christoph Winkler comes to the Kühlhaus Berlin on Oct 20th and 21st.

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 pieces of minimal music, which are classically read as abstract, will be explored and reinterpreted through their 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 both on the reception history of the pieces in music and dance and on their respective connection to the American civil rights movement.
The thematic approach is particularly impressive in the example of Steve Reich: “Come out” alienates the testimony of a young African-American man who was arrested in the course of the Harlem riots in 1964 and became a victim of police violence. The composition distorts his voice further and further through progressive sound layering, thereby also anticipating the media reproduction of tragic individual fates, which is familiar to a contemporary audience from the context of Black Lives Matter. In the choreography of A.T. Kersmaeker, the piece became a contemporary dance classic, which, however, rather conceals the theme of the original text. In “Radical Minimal” the original context will now become more visible through a new arrangement together with Adebajo Oluwafemi Israel and Rasheed Ridwan from the Nigerian The Future of Dance Company.

All three compositions will be combined into a collaborative live performance with the Zafraan Ensemble and other international guest musicians in “Radical Minimal,” in which a distinct choreographic language will be developed for each piece. Additionally, an extended cinematic version for a larger audience is planned.
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 – Violoncello: Martin Smith | By and with: Oluwafemi Israel Adebajo, Lisa Rykena, Aloalii Tapu, Ridwan Rasheed, Raha Nejad, Sophie Prins, Andromeda Gervásio | Köstume: Marie Akoury | Video editing: Gabriella Fiore | Video contribution: Vadim Epstein, Matthias Härtig | Technical direction: Fabian Eichner | Production management: Laura Biagioni

A production of Company Christoph Winkler in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE.
Supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe and the Federal Cultural Foundation with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.