Performance
Florentina Holzinger
TANZ
“Action Ballet” that proudly updates the history of beauty
If you were to ask what work has most stirred up the European performing arts scene in the last few years, people would likely bring up TANZ first. The jaw-dropping performance, which has received countless awards, finally celebrates its Asian premiere. The title TANZ translates to “dance” in German. The performance begins in a ballet class under the direction of Beatrice Schönherr, the first ballerina to dance Le Sacre du Printemps naked (choreographed by John Neumeier in 1972). The subject matter is the world of traditional ballet, an emblem of fixed notions of gender, but the work easily transcends this “tradition” through its acrobatic performance. The ten ballerinas continuously pour themselves into bloody training, pushing their minds and bodies until they finally achieve the superhuman power of flying (via wire performance).
Radical imagery invoking comedy, the circus, and porn is remixed into the history of dance, which has pursued perfection in beauty. The work deftly takes the woman’s body––gazed at in the name of beauty––and reappropriates it to create a ripple in the history of female bodies within artistic expression. Created by Florentina Holzinger, Europe’s most sought-after artist, and female dancers with various backgrounds between their twenties and eighties, this outstanding work is as sensational as it is confrontational.
10.1 (Sat) 18:30 ☆★
10.2 (Sun) 18:30 ☆★♡
Doors open 30 min prior to performance.
☆ Pre-talk in the lobby 30 min before the performance starts
★ Post-show talk
♡ Childcare Service
Duration: 120 min
English with Japanese surtitles
Age limit and other information:
No admission for high school students and audiences aged 17 and under. This performance contains several scenes (involving blood and other graphic content) that some viewers may find extreme or disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Florentina Holzinger
Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin
Born in Austria, Vienna in 1986, Florentina Holzinger is a dancer and choreographer who lives and works in Amsterdam and Vienna. She studied choreography at the School for New Dance Development (SNDO) in Amsterdam. Her works consciously play with the shifting boundaries between high culture and entertainment, exploring different modes of female representation and questioning the full potential of female physicality. She created the trilogy Recovery (2017), Apollon (2017) and TANZ (2020). In 2021 Artistic Director of Volksbühne René Pollesch announced Holzinger as a constant member of his creative team. In 2020 TANZ was also invited to Theatertreffen 2020, selected by German theater magazine Theater Heute as ‘Best Performance of the Year’ and was awarded the Nestroy award for Best Director.
Concept, Performance, and Choreography: Florentina Holzinger
Performance by and with Katie Duck, Lucifire, Annina Machaz, Netti Nüganen, Suzn Pasyon, Laura Stokes, Veronica Thompson, Alexandra Novais Cardoso Gomes
Live Camera: Alexandra Novais Cardoso Gomes
Sound: Stefan Schneider
Lighting and Technical Director: Anne Meeussen
Production Management: Dana Tucker
Stage Technician: Stephan Werner
Rigger: Dörte Wilfroth
Technical Assistant: Koen Vanneste
Set Design: Nikola Knezevic
Dramaturge: Renée Copraij, Sara Ostertag
Stunt Support: Haeger Stunt & Wireworks
Production Management: Something Great (Berlin - DE)
International distribution: Something Great (Berlin - DE)
Produced by Spirit
Co-produced by Tanzquartier Wien, Spring Festival Utrecht, Productiehuis Theater Rotterdam, Mousonturm Frankfurt, Arsenic Lausanne, Münchner Kammerspiele, Take Me Somewhere Festival, Beursschouwburg, deSingel, Sophiensaele, Frascati Productions Amsterdam, Theater im Pumpenhaus, asphalt Festival
With the support of the Republic Austria Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, Section IV – Arts and Culture Stage
Funded by Cultural Department of the City of Vienna, Arts and Culture Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria, Performing Arts Fund NL and Norma fonds NL
Performance in Kyoto supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan through the Japan Arts Council and National Arts Council, Performing Arts Fund NL, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo
With the special cooperation of Goethe-Institut Osaka Kyoto
Presented by Kyoto Experiment
Kyoto Experiment Staff
Technical Director and Stage Manager: Masaya Natsume
Stage Manager Assistant: Yuya Kitamura
Lighting: Kosuke Ashidano (RYU)
Sound: Fumihiro Takada
Video: Sou Fukuoka
Wardrobe: Atsuko Kiyokawa, Reina Yamaguchi
Wall production: Takahiro Shibata
Truss production: G's CREATION
Motorcycle production: Yuji Imai, Masazumi Kouno
Video Equipment: Takenaka Co., Ltd.
Japanese surtitles: Yumiko Deguchi, Yuya Tsukahara
Surtitle Operator: Takuya Ito
Talk Interpreter: Miho Tsujii
Production coordinator: Kimiko Terada (ROHM Theatre Kyoto)
Intern: Norihiro Okamura, Honoka Hayami
Special Thanks to Ayari Ito