people looking at people looking at people

Sebastian Matthias
Düsseldorf Central Station
Dates
13.06.2018 – 16.06.2018
Mehrere Menschen bewegen sich durch eine Empfangshalle.

We gather at different public spaces and automatically become a part of a complex social structure in everyday life. Different rules apply in a library as to the manner in which we communicate and move within the space as opposed to the situation in bar or a church, for example. For three years, choreographer Sebastian Matthias and his team have done research on the complex organisational dynamics of public spaces in their performance series “Groove Space”. For the finale and climax of this long-term project, they re-translate this research, from the stage to the city. “people looking at people looking at people“ is made up of a multitude of site-specific miniature performances that resulted from the work of locally researched gestures and interactive patterns in semi-public indoor spaces. The audience members set their course with a city map and travel from station to station, interweaving themselves into the city’s social contexts and milieus. Together with the dancers, they explore the specific social situations and their choreographic potential.  Sebastian Matthias was a Factory Artist at tanzhaus nrw from 2014 until 2016, and during his tenure, he presented three pieces of his „Groove Space“ series at the venue as well as „Danserye“ and finally „Intergalactic Underwater Palace“ for a young audience. In the doctorate program “Versammlung und Teilhabe (Gathering and Participation)”, he received a degree for his work on participatory processes in dance.

“One starts perceiving oneself as part of a complete urban choreography. Just because the actions are so unobtrusive, they make intense experience possible. At the end, one also wonders: It is phenomenal how we move throughout the city, in such a flexible manner, with such knowledge, as social beings.” Sandra Luzina, “Der Tagesspiegel“, December 2, 2016

Duration: 150 min.

Choreography, Concept: Sebastian Matthias; Co­Choreography, Dance: Malika Ali, Lisanne Goodhue, Deborah Hofstetter, Harumi Terayama, Ildikó Tóth; Visual Arts, Performance: Nino Baumgartner; Music, Performance: Simonne Jones; Visual Arts: Eva Berendes; Sound Installation: Tamer Fahri Özgönenc; Light, Technical Direction: Andreas Harder; Costumes: Marie Perglerova; Dramaturgy: Anna Mülter; Production Dramaturgy: Mira Moschallski. www.sebastianmatthias.com
A production by Sebastian Matthias, coproduced by Kampnagel, tanzhaus nrw, Gessnerallee Zürich and SOPHIENSÆLE. Funded from means of the Hauptstadtkulturfonds, the Konzeptionsförderung der Kulturbehörde Hamburg and Stadt Zürich Kultur. In cooperation with the stores in the Düsseldorf Central Station and DB Station & Service AG, Düsseldorf Dragons Rugby Club, Galerie am Meer, St. Elisabeth nd Vinzenz Kirche and Pechmarie. The event takes place in the framework of Claiming Common Spaces, an event hosted by the Bündnis internationaler Produktionshäuser, funded by the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien. The Düsseldorf-Version is funded by the Kunststiftung NRW.