at 9 pm
Online screening of selected films (with English subtitles) and a talk (in English)
Tickets for live stream via Dice app: 2 €
A MORE ACCURATE COURSE OF EVENTS
➤ Volker Schlöndorff: Kaleidoskop Valeska Gert – For Fun Only – For Play Only (1977) [orig. KALEIDOSCOPE VALESKA GERT – NUR ZUM SPASS NUR ZUM SPIEL (1977)] documentary film, 60 min
➤ Suse Byk: Tanzerische Pantomine (1925) with Valeska Gert, film from the collections of the Centre national de la danse, 3 min
➤ Jule Flierl: Dissociation_Study (2017), video, 3 min 56 sec
➤ Jule Flierl on Valeska Gert, online talk, 30 mins
We will dedicate ourselves to the Berlin dancer and performer Valeska Gert. In the second decade of 20th century, her unusual approaches to dance and mime were recorded in the form of short silent films, and in 1977 the German director Volker Schlöndorff created a one-hour documentary about her life and work, entitled Just a Joke, Just a Play – Kaleidoscope (Nur zum Spass, nur zum Spiel–Kaleidoskop). Since history rehabilitated her in recent decades as one of the main dance artists of the Weimar Republic, choreographers have taken an extremely frequent look at her for inspirational study material.
Valeska Gert (1982 – 1978) is one of the most extravagant artists of the early 20th century and a pioneer of vocal dance. As a dancer and actress, Gert participated in acclaimed productions by artists such as Federico Fellini (Julia and the Ghosts), Frank Wedekind (Franziska), Georg Wilhelm Pabst (Street without Joy) and Bertolt Brecht (The Threepenny Opera), Jean Renoir (Nana) Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Eight Hours Doesn’t Create a Day) and Volker Schlöndorff (Coup de Grâce). As an advocate of progressive artistic trends, she had a strong influence on the contemporary dance scene as well as cultural urban life in Berlin in particular. She drew her critical and creative posture from the important intellectual impulses of various artistic contexts of the time, such as Dadaism. Her so-called grotesque dances are a peculiar response to the challenges of the modern, urban world. The radically fragmentary and pluralistic nature of many of her choreographies eludes any classification.
Directed by: Volker Schlöndorff
Script: Volker Schlöndorff (concept)
Director of photography: Michael Ballhaus
Editing: Gisela Haller
Music: Friedrich Meyer
Production: Bioskop-Film GmbH (Munich) Producer: Eberhard Junkersdorf
Jule Flierl: Dissociation_Study
As shown, many other recent works by the German dance artist and vocal acrobat Jule Flierl are also inspired by the work of Valeska Gert. Since much of these are preserved only in visual recording, Jule Flierl speaks from a futuristic-speculative position in her interpretation. Dissociation Study »is a grotesque dance for the face, in which the synchronisation of the singing voice and external articulation are undone into a standalone movement. Dissociation describes a mental state that is classified as a disorder. This practice of dissociation strives to overcome the paradigm of the integrated body, suggests a challenge for the perception of the vocalizing body and is an empowering game for the performer. The body of the future doesn’t make analogue sense and moves in several directions at once.« This song is inspired by vocal dance Coloratura made by Valeska Gert in the 1920s.
The screening of Suse Byk film on Valeska Gert is made possible by the collaboration with the Centre national de la danse – CND
Dissociation_Study (2017)
Performance and video: Jule Flierl
Supported by: HONOLULU Nantes, Hombroich Summer Fellows 2017
Organisation: Nomad Dance Academy Slovenija and Kino Šiška