© Katje Illner
In A Divine Comedy, the ever-notorious choreographer Florentina Holzinger catapults the world-famous work of the same name by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri right into the present. In her own version, she condenses the three parts of the original – hell, purgatory and paradise – to create heaven and hell in the here and now and set them in motion.
Blurring the distinctions so profoundly rooted in our culture, she brings to the stage an all-female cast of performers of all ages with mixed backgrounds in various physical, musical and dancing disciplines to explore the human dimensions of life and death. In a spectacular performance, Holzinger devises her Divine Comedy, journeying through European dance history with an ensemble spanning seven decades, searching for connections between generations and the roots of the images and fantasies of death in our culture. Holzinger does not shy away from placing death itself on the dissecting table, creating an experimental field of extremes. She practises dances of death as exercises in dying that refer to death, but that means life. How can you represent what cannot be imagined?
The performers‘ bodies are the site of metaphysical and anatomical explorations to find a way. In the process, dance traditions, music and literary history transform into the choreographer’s own creative material. High culture is used as a treasure trove and a rich source of entertainment, including stunts, motocross and hypnosis. Holzinger populates her own afterlife with the faults and fears of our time and asks no lesser question than whether spirituality is possible in the 21st century. (see original text)
Blurring the distinctions so profoundly rooted in our culture, she brings to the stage an all-female cast of performers of all ages with mixed backgrounds in various physical, musical and dancing disciplines to explore the human dimensions of life and death. In a spectacular performance, Holzinger devises her Divine Comedy, journeying through European dance history with an ensemble spanning seven decades, searching for connections between generations and the roots of the images and fantasies of death in our culture. Holzinger does not shy away from placing death itself on the dissecting table, creating an experimental field of extremes. She practises dances of death as exercises in dying that refer to death, but that means life. How can you represent what cannot be imagined?
The performers‘ bodies are the site of metaphysical and anatomical explorations to find a way. In the process, dance traditions, music and literary history transform into the choreographer’s own creative material. High culture is used as a treasure trove and a rich source of entertainment, including stunts, motocross and hypnosis. Holzinger populates her own afterlife with the faults and fears of our time and asks no lesser question than whether spirituality is possible in the 21st century. (see original text)
© Nicole Marianna Wytyczak
© Nicole Marianna Wytyczak
© Nicole Marianna Wytyczak
© Katje Illne
© Nicole Marianna Wytyczak
CREDITS
CONCEPT & DIRECTION: Florentina Holzinger. PERFORMANCE & CHOREOGRAPHY: Foxxy Angel, Amanda Bailey, Linda Blomqvist, Renée Copraij, Beatrice Cordua, Paige A. Flash, Alba Gentili-Tedeschi, Noam Gorbat, Ria Higler, Florentina Holzinger, Susanne Jablonski, Steffi Laier, Annina Machaz, Courtney May Robertson, Audrey Merilus, Xana Novais, Maja Osojnik, Bärbel Schwarz, Miranda van Kuilenburg, Anna Tierney, Linnéa Tullius, Isabelle Volckaert. COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN: Maja Osojnik & Stefan Schneider. SCENOGRAPHY: Nikola Knežević. DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij & Sara Ostertag. DRAMATURGY RT: Sara Abbasi. REAL CHOREOGRAPHY: Ty Boomershine. LIGHT DESIGN: Anne Meeussen & Max Kraußmüller. VIDEO DESIGN: Noam Gorbat. TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Anne Meeussen & Stephan Werner. STAGE TECHNICIAN / HOISTS OPERATOR: Dörte Wilfroth. STAGE ASSISTANCE: Camilla Smolders & Nicole Marianna Wytyczak. MUSIC COACH: Almut Lustig. STUNT COORDINATION: Stunt - Factory & Leo Plank (Haeger Stunt & Wireworks). HURDLE TRAINING: Valerie Kleiser & Ulrike Kleinschmidt. TAXIDERMY COACH: Lydia Mäder. WOOD SPORTS COACH: Josef Laier. OUTSIDE EYE: Fernando Belfiore. MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION: Something Great. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Ricardo Frayha. PRODUCTION INTERN KASSEL: Lisa Birkenbach. COMMISSIONED BY: Ruhrtriennale (Ruhr - DE). PRODUCED BY: Something Great (Berlin - DE), Spirit (Vienna - AT), Ruhrtriennale (Ruhr - DE, Staatstheater Kassel (Kassel - DE). CO-PRODUCED BY: Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin (Berlin - DE), Tanzquartier Wien (Vienna - AT), DE SINGEL - International Arts Centre (Antwerp - BE), Theater Freiburg (Freiburg- DE) and Julidans (Amsterdam - NL). FUNDED BY: The German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes) and the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien). WITH THE KIND SUPPORT OF: Rudolf Augstein Stiftung, Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, documenta Halle (Kassel)and Montévidéo (Marseille). THANKS TO: Uwe Leifheit, Impulstanz Vienna.
CONCEPT & DIRECTION: Florentina Holzinger. PERFORMANCE & CHOREOGRAPHY: Foxxy Angel, Amanda Bailey, Linda Blomqvist, Renée Copraij, Beatrice Cordua, Paige A. Flash, Alba Gentili-Tedeschi, Noam Gorbat, Ria Higler, Florentina Holzinger, Susanne Jablonski, Steffi Laier, Annina Machaz, Courtney May Robertson, Audrey Merilus, Xana Novais, Maja Osojnik, Bärbel Schwarz, Miranda van Kuilenburg, Anna Tierney, Linnéa Tullius, Isabelle Volckaert. COMPOSITION & SOUND DESIGN: Maja Osojnik & Stefan Schneider. SCENOGRAPHY: Nikola Knežević. DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij & Sara Ostertag. DRAMATURGY RT: Sara Abbasi. REAL CHOREOGRAPHY: Ty Boomershine. LIGHT DESIGN: Anne Meeussen & Max Kraußmüller. VIDEO DESIGN: Noam Gorbat. TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Anne Meeussen & Stephan Werner. STAGE TECHNICIAN / HOISTS OPERATOR: Dörte Wilfroth. STAGE ASSISTANCE: Camilla Smolders & Nicole Marianna Wytyczak. MUSIC COACH: Almut Lustig. STUNT COORDINATION: Stunt - Factory & Leo Plank (Haeger Stunt & Wireworks). HURDLE TRAINING: Valerie Kleiser & Ulrike Kleinschmidt. TAXIDERMY COACH: Lydia Mäder. WOOD SPORTS COACH: Josef Laier. OUTSIDE EYE: Fernando Belfiore. MANAGEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION: Something Great. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Ricardo Frayha. PRODUCTION INTERN KASSEL: Lisa Birkenbach. COMMISSIONED BY: Ruhrtriennale (Ruhr - DE). PRODUCED BY: Something Great (Berlin - DE), Spirit (Vienna - AT), Ruhrtriennale (Ruhr - DE, Staatstheater Kassel (Kassel - DE). CO-PRODUCED BY: Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin (Berlin - DE), Tanzquartier Wien (Vienna - AT), DE SINGEL - International Arts Centre (Antwerp - BE), Theater Freiburg (Freiburg- DE) and Julidans (Amsterdam - NL). FUNDED BY: The German Federal Cultural Foundation (Kulturstiftung des Bundes) and the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna (Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien). WITH THE KIND SUPPORT OF: Rudolf Augstein Stiftung, Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, documenta Halle (Kassel)and Montévidéo (Marseille). THANKS TO: Uwe Leifheit, Impulstanz Vienna.
PAST PERFORMANCE DATES
07.10.23 - Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Brussels (BE)
18.06.23 - Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania (AU)
17.06.23 - Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania (AU)
16.06.23 - Dark Mofo, Hobart, Tasmania (AU)
04.04.23 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
03.04.23 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
05.11.22 - Ludwigshafen (DE)
28.08.22 - Kampangel - Sommerfestival, Hamburg (DE)
27.08.22 - Kampangel - Sommerfestival, Hamburg (DE)
26.08.22 - Kampangel - Sommerfestival, Hamburg (DE)
08.07.22 - Staatstheater Kassel - Schauspielhaus, Kassel (DE)
04.07.22 - Julidans, Amsterdam (NL)
03.07.22 - Julidans, Amsterdam (NL)
25.06.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
24.06.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
23.06.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
20.05.22 - Staatstheater Kassel - Schauspielhaus, Kassel (DE)
19.05.22 - Staatstheater Kassel - Schauspielhaus, Kassel (DE)
03.03.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
02.03.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
07.01.22 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
06.01.22 ︎- Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
19.12.21 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
18.12.21 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
06.11.21 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
05.11.21 - Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz, Berlin (DE)
13.11.21 ︎- deSingel, Antwerp (BE)
12.11.21 - ︎deSingel, Antwerp (BE)
30.10.21 - Staatstheater Kassel - Schauspielhaus, Kassel (DE)
29.10.21 - Staatstheater Kassel - Schauspielhaus, Kassel (DE)
23.10.21 ︎- Tanzquartier Wien, Halle E, Vienna (AT)
22.10.21 ︎- Tanzquartier Wien, Halle E, Vienna (AT)
26.08.21 - Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
25.08.21 - Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
23.08.21 ︎- Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
22.08.21 - Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
20.08.21 - Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
19.08.21 ︎- Kraftzentrale / Ruhrtriennale, Duisburg (DE)
