A fascinating trio of works of avant-garde German choreography and performance is being presented around town, soon, sponsored by the Getting To Know Europe program, awarded by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States and hosted by the Goethe Institut of Los Angeles, and its savvy director Fareed Majari. This virtual mini festival of the latest in outre theater-dance has three major components.
How can a society learn from choreographers? (Untitled) (2000) depicts an image of a world where dance and choreography can inspire a society. Originally conceived for stage and danced by Tino Sehgal himself, the solo remains in the cultural memory as a “museum of dance.” The space of this museum does not contain objects, but movements and gestures of iconic dance styles. Now, fourteen years later, the bodies of three dancers confront the history of 20th century dance with the architecture of postindustrial landscapes.
With the mere presence of his body (unaccompanied by music, and without a set), Frank Willens allows new spaces to emerge for new readings and interpretations. What is the task of theater or museum in a society? Has the obsession for objects, for material values reached its end?
Untitled | Tino Sehgal, performed by Frank Willens | Human Resources | August 10, 8:00 pm; Saturday, August 12, Sunday, August 13 at LACMA
Conceived, directed, set and staged by Peter Stamer
Performed by Frank Willens
Text by Friedrich Nietzsche
Abridged and re-translated from German into English by Peter Stamer & Frank Willens
On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense | Peter Stamer & Frank Willens | Human Resources | Aug 11, 12 8 pm
In Sixty minutes towards being there, a composition between a performer, Frank Willens, and a musician, Klaus Janek, Willens sets the alarm for one hour and investigates the vast multiplicity of the given condition. The piece is described as “an encounter with the moment,” and “a negotiation between fixed material and an ever-evolving situation.” Willens also warns that the performance maybe a downer … but that should come as nothing new for anyone who has lived in the United States since last November.
Frank Willens | Sixty minutes towards being there | Human Resources | Aug 15, 16 8 pm
Presented with support from the Getting To Know Europe program, awarded by the Delegation of the European Union to the United States
The art of Tino Sehgal is immaterial; it takes shape in the moment in which the spectator encounters it. Since 2000, he has been constructing live situations in which performers enter into contact with the visitors and spectators by way of movements, conversations, or song, inviting them to influence the structure of the work.Born in London in 1976, Tino Sehgal studied economics and dance. In 2005, he represented Germany at the Venice Biennale. The Guggenheim, Tate Modern, and dOCUMENTA (13) have also presented solo shows of his work. In 2013, he was awarded the Golden Lion at the 55th Venice Biennale.
Peter Stamer is a theatre maker in the context of contemporary performing arts. He is interested in exploring conditions for discursive and physical empowerment within given performative, social and narrative apparatuses. Beyond his theatre work and teaching activities in all of Europe, his performance and theatre projects have led him to China, the USA, Canada, Egypt or Israel. Next to the performative adaptation of Nietzsche’s essay On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense, among his recent works are to be found the international building/performance project A Future Archeology in Berlin, Vienna and Cairo (2012 – 2013), which provided the initial impulses for the book How to Collaborate? – Questioning Togetherness in the Performing Arts (Passagen Verlag 2016, his performative installation and film 26 Letters to Deleuze (EMPAC New York 2014), or The Circus of Life A-Z (together with Yosi Wanunu) at Tanzquartier Vienna (2015). Currently, Peter is conceiving a theatrical and installative adaptation of Franz Kafka’s story In the Penal Colony.
Frank Willens has lived and worked Berlin since 2003, showing his work widely in Europe. The native Californian discovered dance at UC Berkeley. He has completed two world tours with Paul McCartney, Notre Dame de Paris on stage in Las Vegas, and in Berlin collaborated with choreographers and directors including Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods, Boris Charmatz, Laurent Chétouane, Falk Richter, and Peter Stamer. He has worked with Tino Sehgal since 2006.