World premiere

Practicing Empathy #1, #2 by 2 und #3

Yasmeen Godder
Big stage
Dates
30.09.2021 – 02.10.2021
Eine Performer*in mit einem futuristischen Kostüm schaut auf dem Boden sitzend nach links
Drei Performer*innen liegen aufeinander in Ekstase
Zwei Performer*innen tanzen sitzend und mit ausgestreckten Armen miteinander. Im Vordergrund schaut ihnen jemand zu.
Zwei Performer*innen. Die Person links sitzt, die Person rechts beugt sich schnell nach vorne.
Eine Performer*in wirft sich mit nach hinten ausgestreckten Armen auf Knien nach vorne

A two-year research process led the Yasmeen Godder Company to several different locales while also bringing them into contact with many communities. The results of those studies will be presented on stage in three different combinations over the course of three evenings. To do this, Yasmeen Godder devised possible manners to deal with the complex processes that enable connections with one another or the identification with oneself, a cause, or a group, finally creating a space that strengthens our emphatic capabilities.

In Practicing Empathy #1, the series’ first study, the choreographer conjures up an environment in which empathy emerges as support, encouragement, and reaction to complex requirements. The eight performers dive into repetitive movements and chants, in the process baring emotional landscapes that adumbrate intertwining relationships and their various connections among each other. While the audience witnesses this strong language of imagery and sound during the evening’s first part, Practicing Empathy #2 by 2, together with the public, explores how to share experiences with others. Eight members of the audience will be invited to delve into a communal experience, positioned in two-by-two metre squares holding two persons each. This practice appropriates the two-metre distancing rule of the COVID-19 pandemic, changing it into an instrument of connection, empathy, and intimacy. The Practicing Empathy #3 solo finally researches the effects of the pandemic and being alone with oneself on our capacity for empathy. This first solo in Yasmeen Godder’s stage career, spanning 25 years, is both a real-time document of the past year with its moments of isolation, constraints, and inner discovery, as well as an instruction for a continuous mechanism of survival.

The works by Israeli choreographer Yasmeen Godder have long been circling around the field of encounter and emotional connections – among acquaintances and strangers. The starting point for this perceptive exploratory work always lay within her artistic practice in which dance and choreography as a medium play a central part. Her most current guest appearances at tanzhaus nrw were with her participatory plays Emotions (2016) and Simple Action (2018) as well as with the duet Demonstrate Restraint (2019) in which she examined the voice as a generator for movement for the first time.

Thu 30.09. 20:00
Practicing Empathy #1 + #2 by 2
Duration: 110 min.

Fri 01.10. 20:00
Practicing Empathy #1 + #3
Duration: 140 min.

Sat 02.10. 20:00
Practicing Empathy #2 by 2 + #3
Duration: 125 min.

Workshops
30.09. 18:00 Artist Workshop: #2 by 2 with Yasmeen Godder
02.10. 15:30 Artist Workshop: #2 by 2 with Monica Gillette

 

Development, choreography: Yasmeen Godder; Project dramaturgy: Monica Gillette; Itzik Giuli.
#1: Dramaturgy: Monica Gillette; Itzik Giuli; Dancers: Ortal Atsbaha, Or Ashkenazi, Carmel Ben-Asher, Ari Teperberg, Tamar Kisch, Nir Vidan; Sound Design: Tomer Damsky, Lior Pinsky; Stage, lighting design: Omer Sheizaf; Costumes: Hilla Shapira.
#2 by 2: Dramaturgy: Monica Gillette; Itzik Giuli; Dancers: Ortal Atsbaha, Or Ashkenazi, Carmel Ben-Asher, Ari Teperberg, Tamar Kisch, Nir Vidan, Shuli Enosh, Yasmeen Godder, Anat Vaadia,
Viktorija Ilioska, Katja Cheraneva; Original music: Lior Pinsky.
#3: Dramaturgy, rehearsal scheduling: Nir Vidan; Objekte: Gilli Avissar; Construction design: Gili Godiano; Lighting design: Tamar Orr; Costumes: Shirley Itzik; Production: Omer Alsheich; Administration: Zohar Eshel-Acco; Photos: Tamar Lamm.

#1 is a production by Yasmeen Godder Company, co-produced by tanzhaus nrw together with CSC - Centro per la Scena Contemporanea.
The guest performance takes place in the framework of the international production houses, funded by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien and is supported by Rabinovich Foundation and by the Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts.
#2 by 2 is a production by Yasmeen Godder Company, co-produced by tanzhaus nrw, commisioned and presented by Chatira Le’maga Festival at Habait Theater. The production was supported by the Israel Lottery Council for Culture & Arts.

#3 ist a production by Yasmeen Godder Company and Künstlerhaus Mousonturm. A commissioned work as part of the Frankfurt Positions 2021, an initiative of the BHF Bank Foundation. The guest performance takes place in the framework of the international production houses, funded by Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien. The production of Practicing Empathy #3 is funded by the Consulate General of Israel.