OPENING

 

15 May, Friday, 7 p.m., Youth Theatre

 

Fabián Barba (Ecuador/ Belgium)

 

A MARY WIGMAN DANCE EVENING 

 

Concept, dance Fabián Barba 

Mentors Katharine Sehnert, Irene Sieben, Susanne Linke 

Costumes Sarah-Christine Reuleke 

Lights Geni Diez 

Composition music for Anruf Pastorale, Seraphisches Lied, Sturmlied and Sommerlicher Tanz Hanns Hasting 

Composition music for Raumgestalt, Zeremonielle Gestalt and Drehmonotonie Sascha Demand 

Production K3 – Zentrum für Choreographie, Tanzplan Hamburg (DE) 

Co-production Fabrik Potsdam (DE) in the frame of Tanzplan Potsdam Artists-in-Residence, Kaaitheater (Brussel, BE), P.A.R.T.S. (Brussel, BE), wp Zimmer (Antwerpen, BE) 

Support Mary Wigman Gesellschaft (Hamburg, Bremen, DE), PACT Zollverein Essen (DE) 

Tour management Caravan Production 

Special thanks to Stephan Dörschel, Timmy De Laet.

 

Contemporary dance doesn’t seize to come back to its beginnings set by its pioneers in Europe a century ago. They broke with the conventions of classical ballet and tried to devise new forms of dance in accordance to their individuality and the spirit of the time. German dancer and choreographer Mary Wigman is among the most significant modern dance figures. In her choreographies and solos the dancing body was supposed to deliver both subjective and universal expression of the inner experiences and of the soul.

 

In “A Mary Wigman Dance Evening” Fabian Barba rediscovers the solo dances which Wigman presented during her first tour through the United States (1930–31)changing the dance landscape there forever, and until today she still influences the artistic scene in his native Ecuador. With an extraordinary precision and artistic finesse Fabian Barba is testing the possibility of transporting some of the atmospheric, gestural, and affective qualities of Wigman’s dance recitals developing the tension between his reconstruction and her original and taking pleasure in the fundamental differences between their bodies. 

 

“A Mary Wigman Dance Evening” was granted the second and third European Prize for emerging choreography Prix Jardin d'Europe 2010.

 

“ For `A Mary Wigman Dance Evening`, I took as a starting point the performances Wigman offered during her first tour through the United States in 1930-31. Thus, I’ve come to gather a recital composed of nine short soli. Three of those were learned from videos of Wigman dancing herself. For the other dances I had access to three different kinds of sources: photos, texts written by Wigman and newspaper reviews of the period. From these sources it’s not possible to recuperate something such as an 'original', but it's possible to deduce the themes, moods, movement qualities and gestural vocabularies based on which I created new dances myself.

Fabian Barba

 

Fabian Barba was born in Quito in 1982. At the age of 12 he started studying modern dance and theatre. This education in his hometown allowed him to work as a professional performer in the local artistic milieu. Parallel to his artistic formation, Fabian studied Communication and Literature at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador.In 2004 Fabian moved to Brussels to study at P.A.R.T.S., the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios. He became a founding member of the artistic collective Busy Rocks. Fabian’s first solo, “A Mary Wigman Dance Evening” (2009) has been touring worldwide. He continues to explore the theme of dance history, the intercultural transitions in it and the reconstruction as an artistic practice in his further works: “a personal yet collective history” and  “Le Marbre Tremble”, in collaboration with dance researcher Mark Franko.

 

The guest-performance of  “A Mary Wigman Dance Evening” is supported by the Honorary Consulate of Ecuador in Bulgaria and by the Flamish Authorities.  

 

 

Tickets 8/10 BGN

Tickets available at Youth Theatre, Derida Dance Center and Red House Center for Culture and Debate.

For reservations +359 2  02/ 831 21 94