Elsa Artmann / SANFTE ARBEIT

Big stage

Dates

Auf einer Bühne mit weißem Boden steht im Vordergrund eine Person, eine weitere sitzt im Hintergrund vor einem flachen Podest. Beide Personen tragen Hosen und T-Shirts. Die Person im Vordergrund nimmt eine Position wie beim Kugelstoßen ein: Ihren linken Arm streckt sie zur Seite, leicht nach oben gerichtet, den anderen Arm hält sie angewinkelt auf Oberkörperhöhe. Beide tragen ein Headsetmikrofon.
Zwei Personen befinden sich gemeinsam auf einem weißen Bühnenboden. Eine der Personen liegt auf dem Rücken, während die andere neben ihr kniet und ihre Hand auf den Brustkorb der liegenden Person legt. Die liegende Person hält ihren Arm in Richtung der Hand auf ihrem Oberkörper.
Es ist eine Gruppe von Personen auf einer Bühne zu sehen. Am Rand sitzen Zuschauer*innen, direkt vor ihnen befinden sich drei Performer*innen. Eine Person wird von den anderen beiden seitlich festgehalten, während sie sich mit ihrem Rücken nach hinten fallen lässt.

With movement, music and text, dance and audio piece A Change is as Good as a Rest tackles the rhythmics of our lives brought upon by works as well as by our attempts to outsmart linear time. To exit the ceaseless sequence of activity that define our everyday lives, we ask ourselves: Do we need more love or a break? A quiet minute, a sabbatical, or a radical departure? Fresh air, a crash or rather a sharp braking? Between remunerated and unpaid, estranged or identity-forming relationship and isolating work – how do we feel, while working, that something ends, that a time is slowly changing? How can we live together when we cannot agree any longer? What time is it if NOW does not happen for everybody at the same instant? If we have chosen different paths in time? 

A Change is as Good as a Rest is the finale of a multi-play ongoing analysis of work in culture capitalism and coalesces them into this question: Of everything we experience as contradictory in our own practice (and its localisation) – what do we wish to continue with? What do we end with? Four dancers and one musician describe their own actions or their possible cessation and provide accessibility for a blind and visually impaired audience through superimpositions of text, sound, and movement.

Ensemble Elsa Artmann / SANFTE ARBEIT works dance-based on interdisciplinary formats that also include, apart from choreography, audio play and book publication, most recently developing in a direction of contemporary musical. Themes are viewed in movement, text, and voice; topics that initially leave us feeling powerless – like the nuclear family, living, nationalism, work – and they design “exercises for different conditions”. Since 2022, Elsa Artmann / SANFTE ARBEIT have been dealing with (emotional, care and relationship) work in culture capitalism through different formats (apart from stage plays also in audio dramas, a short film, and with a digital platform for collaborative writing). They understand their practice as documentary in a combined inspection of everyday experience and (medially) attested current affairs. In the transitions between language, sound, and movement, the Ensemble addresses the accessibility of their own work from different senses and perception levels. 

In German and English. Supertitles always in the other language.
Relaxed performance. With integrated audio description.

Duration: 70 mins.

Read more about the piece in this interview with Elsa Artmann!

Accompanying programme
Datum Rahmenprogramm
Fri 01.05. subsequently

Talk: Panel in German

Accessibility

  • Thu 30.04. 19:30
    Tactile tour
    Thu 30.04.
    • Audio description
    • Relaxed Performance
    • Tactile tour
    • Subtitles
    • EN subtitles
    (Tactile Tour · 19:30)
  • Fri 01.05. 19:30
    Tactile tour
    Fri 01.05.
    • Audio description
    • Relaxed Performance
    • Tactile tour
    • Subtitles
    • EN subtitles
    (Tactile Tour · 19:30)

The integrated audio description/access dramaturgy for blind and visually impaired audiences starts 30 minutes before the performance.

Audioflyer for the performance (German only)

Access information

Physical access


The building is step-free and largely accessible. The forecourt is covered with cobblestones and old tracks. Directions from Düsseldorf Central Station (information point) to tanzhaus nrw can be found HERE. Vehicles can pull up close to the entrance.

Audience seating
 

There is a seated audience stand located on the stage. Seating is unreserved. A limited number of wheelchair spaces is available.

We also offer early boarding (early entry) for visitors with visible and non-visible disabilities (for example, sensory or psychological impairments). Early access to the auditorium is possible to allow time to find a seat and become comfortably accustomed to the space and lighting conditions. Please contact the front-of-house staff if you require early boarding.

Relaxed Performance
 

Strong lighting effects, complete darkness, and extreme sound levels are avoided. As part of the relaxed performance, the stage can be left and re-entered at any time.

Information for blind and visually impaired visitors

Guidance system
 

At tanzhaus nrw, there is a tactile guidance system leading to the box office in the entrance foyer. The system does not continue into the theatre spaces (foyer, stage).

Integrated Audio Description
 

The integrated audio description / access dramaturgy for blind and visually impaired audiences combines sensory elements, descriptive and narrative language, and sound. All of these elements are embedded in the stage action and are partly linked to specific locations.

Touch & Feel Tour – for blind and visually impaired visitors
 

The integrated audio description/access dramaturgy begins with a Touch & Feel tour 30 minutes before the performance. The aim is to provide a sensory introduction to the movement principles of the piece.

Content Notes

Content
 

The performance addresses mental health in times of crisis. Visitors can decide for themselves how much they wish to engage with this topic. The stage space can be left and re-entered at any time.

Artistic direction, dance, text: Elsa Artmann; dance, text, co-creation: Anne-Lene Nöldner, Diana Treder; composition, live soundtrack: Annie Bloch; access dramaturgy for blind and visually impaired audiences, expertise in artistic audio description: Lilian Korner; assistence and subtitles: Elina Brams Ritzau; translation proofreading of subtitles: Desz Debreceni; production audio flyer: Jonathan Kastl; dramaturgy: Valerie Wehrens; Outside Eye: Lili M. Rampre; Co-costume design: Noemi Baumblatt, Elsa Artmann; Dance, text, co-creation research: Amelia Uzategui Bonilla; Sound: Edis Ludwig; Lighting: Jasper Diekamp; Graphics: Ondine Pannet; Photography: Arne Schmitt, Julia Franken; Video: Cecilia Gläsker, Press and public relations: neurohr & andrä; Production Assistant: Mona Sachße.

Supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, the Kunststiftung NRW, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, and the Diversity Fund NRW. The research is supported by the Performing Arts Fund from funds provided by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. A co-production by tanzhaus nrw. In further partnership with TanzFaktur Cologne.