About the Collaboration — DANCING WITH VIOLENCE

movement scores inspired by Anonymous One

concept, dance research, and words by Min Yoon tr. “Citizen Truth”

music, composition and sonic landscapes by Wieland Möller

words and production by Rodrigo Zorzanelli

dramaturgical advice:
Jan Maihorn (sound / theater),
Jessica Gaynor (dance / choreography),
Tom Foskett-Barnes (sound / theater)

Thank you to the Anonymous One who was open to sharing their story for the possible openings in others. They were identified in an open call workshop exploring the victim and perpetrator archetypes.

Thanks to Brukmuk and Michiel Renger for generously allowing us to use their driving Technobeats in the soundscape. We would also like to thank the European Academy of the Healing Arts, Klein Jasedow for sound inspirations, as well as Hošek Contemporary Gallery, Theaterhaus Mitte, and Laborgras Studios for support throughout the research and premiere. The piece also has many inspirations and connections to Anna and Daria Halprin’s Life/Art Process, Process Work, butoh dance, and Laurie Anderson.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Min Yoon tr. “Citizen Truth”, concept, dance research, and words
dancetotheedge.com

“This is an experiment to share the ways that dance has given me new perspectives to navigate issues that seemed impossible, and a new way to translate and understand the inner landscapes of another person’s experiences. It is something special to find others who are moved to process violence as it is not necessarily easy or fun. It was inspiring that the Anonymous One was willing to research and share about violence in hopes that the piece may resonate with some more bodies out there. Art / this piece is a communing and deep questioning.”

They are a butoh dancer, interdisciplinary artist, and researcher of conflict resolution using the body. They have intensively studied, performed, and lived in artistic residency with master butoh teachers Atsushi Takenouchi of Jinen Butoh School in Italy, Anastazia Louise of Bad Unkl Sista, and Mizu Desierto of Water in the Desert, as well as continuous training in choreography and dance with master teachers in San Francisco and Berlin. They have also trained in the Life / Art Process at the Tamalpa Institute by Anna and Daria Halprin. Min’s performances and social art works have been funded by NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ (npn) in Germany, Kultuuri Kaupilla in Finland, The City of Oakland, The Battery Club of San Francisco, and the Awesome Foundation, with further artist residencies and grants.

Wieland Möller, music, composition and Sonic landscapes
www.wielandmoeller.com

“I wish to give people a stable and trustful support through the sonic creation to help them to maintain their inner balance even though turbulences might appear when being confronted in the dark. It was a deep, nourishing and yet challenging experience to work on that topic of violence with the media of sound and movement with these beautiful beings and transform one’s own experiences and hopefully others’ too. It felt good to be aware of one’s responsibility for sound and listening, experienced on that topic of violence and in the dark.”

Wieland Möller is a Berlin based drummer, sound artist and performer in the fields of jazz, improvised music and contemporary dance. He studied at the Rotterdams Conservatory, Rhythmic Conservatory Copenhagen and Berklee College of Music and in New York. He has been a scholar of the Berklee College of Music, Goethe Institution Germany and the GVL. Wieland is the founder of the Akvariet Trio. He has performed at the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, Jazz International Rotterdam Festival and among others, and has toured Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Iceland. Being a performing musician and composer, Wieland Möller has been involved in dance and theater projects and performances, among others at the Biennale Berlin 2018 with the choreographer Okwui Okpokwasili, with the Berlin based Ensemble „Mann aus Obst“, Junge Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gripstheatre Berlin, Reykjavik Dance Festival and Prague Dance Festival. He has worked with Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Markus Stockhausen, Klaas Hekman, Tobias Delius, Julyen Hamilton, Ingo Reulecke and other collaborators.Throughout his career he is working as a performer, composer and sound artist with dance and is fascinated to be able to make sounds visually real and motion audible. Wieland is constantly creating and living with the coming together of Art, Nature and Spirit.

Rodrigo Zorzanelli, words and production

“Working in this project has been a journey of embracing learning, honoring capacities, nurturing collaboration and constantly finding honesty and connection with each other. I hope that this meaningful invisible process, which was necessary to make the piece, shines through the darkness when you are listening to it.”

Rodrigo Zorzanelli works in the performing arts independent scene in Berlin as a performer, writer, production manager and creative producer. Their artistic work deals with being non-binary, histories of migration, invisible structures and the urge for intimacy within bureaucratic and globalized relationships. Among Rodrigo’s latest collaborations, there are Mauern (She She Pop, HAU1, 2022), Dancing with Violence (Min Yoon, Hošek Contemporary, 2022), Social Muscle Club (Uferstudios, 2022) and à flor da pele (COLMEIA, English Theater Berlin, 2022).

Nicola Bullock, dance research
www.nicolabullock.com

“My involvement with Dancing With Violence engaged

I’m not sure what to write about my experience in this project. It was so positive and at the same time so deep, every invitation to engage asking for more of my physical and emotional presence and honesty. It was an honor to be involved with this profound work, and I am grateful for the opportunity to engage with it in this way. I am also inspired that the work exists in the world, making space for conversations and embodied experience around the topic of violence.”

Nicola Bullock (USA 1983) is a Berlin-based choreographer, dancer, and writer. Her work has been seen at venues and festivals in Canada, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Tunisia, and the USA. Most recently Nicola has had the pleasure of collaborating with Pig Iron Theatre Company on the devised work The Path of Pins or the Path of Needles, which premiered at the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She is currently pursuing her MFA in dance at the University of the Arts.

Jessica Gaynor, dramaturgical advice in dance / choreography
www.jessicagaynordance.com

“Min, Rodrigo and Wieland led us through this performative journey with great care, through their use of language, sound, storytelling and imagery. The content within the worlds are challenging and at moments, even confrontational. I appreciated this deep dive into the important topics surrounding violence, and then being led out through movement and sensation, offering time to reconcile my own feelings and experience moments of connectivity with the other participants. It was an honor to reflect on the piece during the early stages, engage in conversation with the artists, and then experience the work in performance.”

Jessica Gaynor is a choreographer, performer and teacher based between Berlin and New York. Her work has been presented at venues throughout the US and Berlin, including Jacob's Pillow Inside/Out, The Skirball Center/NYU, Dance:Access at Danspace Project, Ailey Citigroup Theater, The Kitchen, Hošek Contemporary, Lake Studios and more. Jessica currently works as a repertory teacher and guest choreographer at the Berlin Dance Institute, is Artistic Director of Young Dancemakers Company, curates an ongoing dance and music series at Petersburg Art Space Berlin and continues to present her own work internationally. As a freelance choreographer, Jessica is interested in collaborating with artists across genres, researching kinetic physicality, intricate patterning, and musicality in an exploration of the complexities of human experience.

Tom Foskett-Barnes, dramaturgical advice in sound / theater
www.tomfoskettbarnes.com

”I was touched to be involved with DANCING WITH VIOLENCE as an observer, sharing thoughts on dramaturgy and sonic storytelling. Min, Wieland and Rodrigo have approached the piece with incredible sensitivity and are asking the audience to give more of themselves in order to receive. This radical contribution ultimately asks how our vulnerability can morph into a strength, thus unlocking the potential of the piece to be transformative for its participants.”

Tom Foskett-Barnes is a composer and sound designer working predominantly in film, theatre and sound art. He has worked on Oscar and BAFTA-nominated films and worked on productions in theater including, the Soho Theatre, The Arcola, The Old Vic and The Globe. In 2016 Tom was Sound and Music Composer in Residence with ROLI as part of the Embedded_Innovate Scheme and in 2017 Tom was selected as part of the Old Vic 12. Tom trained at the Royal College of Music as a Soirée d'Or Scholar generously supported by a Clifton Parker Award and was the recipient of a BAFTA UK Scholarship.