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.

We will discuss this legendary German artist with the German dancer, performer and choreographer Jule Flierl, who studied the vision in which Valeska gert approached voice in dance as a form of dancing.

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.

TRAILER

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

With financial support: