Rosi tanzt Rosi – The Winter Version 2009

photos David Bergé

Performances at Critical Path, Sydney and Lucy Guerin Studio, Melbourne in  January 2009 during the residency at Critical Path, and as semester-presentation for MA SODA at HZT Berlin at Uferstudios Berlin

“During her stay in Sydney and Melbourne she will work on her solo Rosi tanzt Rosi, dealing in it with the notion of narration in solo dance, narration in Improvisation, with aging, the female solo as 20 century’s dance, mask work, character work. She will have a  work in progress showing and a practice based research weekend with interested colleagues on these subjects, both in Sydney and in Melbourne.” (program Melbourne)

In giving Rosi more and more history and detail without wanting to arrive at a coherent, possibly real life person, I’m at the moment seeing her as living through, as carrying with her the whole time span of twentieth century. In my process with her I meet female liberation, expressionism, World War II, entanglement with fascism, migration and survival of the first half of the century, as well as the conquest of uni-sex athleticism, of feminine seduction, of informality and quotidian movements of the second half. And I meet the end of these kind of female dances; Rosi as phased out model, a pathetic last subject on stage. (Feb. 2009)