Archipel

Nature has become an artifact, humans and plants have bonded and allied in a new provocative form. When the world order as we know it ends, the new humanoid being will come to light and feel out its strenghts in an archipelago of possibilities: invisible biological interweavings and symbioses, in which consanguinity and reproduction of human species have outlived themselves. Electrified creatures build hybrid, space-taking and tentacle-like interfaces. They follow sensors of turmoil, ready to transform. In ARCHIPEL architecture, dance and music absorb this vision and form a new entity: The sculpture by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto serves not only as stage, scenery and shelter, it is also a musical instrument, whose sounds are collectively produced, assimilated and enhanced by the dancers and musicians. The choreography by Stephanie Thiersch and the music by Brigitta Muntendorf work with the blending of genres in search of perception. We are all connected.

Due to Corona, the soloist choir from Norway cannot be present live as originally planned, but will be integrated via audio and video recordings.

With
MOUVOIR: Fabien Almakiewicz, Neus Barcons Roca, Julien Ferranti, Kelvin Kilonzo, Gyung Moo Kim, Margaux Marielle-Tréhoüart, Alexandra Naudet, Camille Revol, Joel Suárez Gómez, Malu Thiersch
Ensemble Garage & guests: Carola Schaal (clarinets), Pablo Giw (trumpet), Till Künkler (trombone), Yuka Ohta (percussion), Jonathan Shapiro (percussion), Joss Turnbull (percussion), Isaac Espinoza Hidrobo (violin), Moritz Baerens (double bass)
Asasello Quartett: Rostislav Kozhevnikov (violin), Justyna Śliwa (viola), Teemu Myöhänen (cello)
Det Norske Solistkor/The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir: Silje Aker Johnsen, Ingeborg Dalheim, Mari Johanne Müller, Camilla Wiig Revholt (soprano), Camilla Marie Bjørk Andreassen, Marianne Bye Granheim, Maria Dale Johannessen, Frøydis Fegran Kopperud (alto), Håvard Gravdal, Paul Kirby, Øystein Stensheim, Markus Tähti Dunseth (tenor), Timothy Ferguson, Hugo Herrman, Olle Holmgren, Peder Arnt Kløvrud (bass)

Artistic Direction, Choreography: Stephanie Thiersch
Artistic Direction, Composition: Brigitta Muntendorf
Architecture: Sou Fujimoto
Dramaturgy: Stawrula Panagiotaki, Juliane Votteler
Costumes: Sita Messer, Lauren Steel
Lighting Design: Begoña Garcia Navas
Sound Direction: Sebastian Schottke
Live Electronics/Programming: Maximiliano Estudies, Lucia Kilger
Video Design: Warped Type
Rehearsal director choir: Grete Pedersen
Choreographic Assistance: Marcela Ruiz Quintero
Musical Assistance: Nicolas Berge
Production Management: Harriet Lesch & littlebit GbR
Production: Sarah Heinrich
Technical Direction: Gerhard Pichler, Begoña Garcia Navas
Technical Assistance: Dimitar Evtimov
Stage Construction: Studio Hamburg
Instrument Making: Thomas Meixner

Produced by Ensemble Garage e.V. and MOUVOIR e.V.
Co-produced by Theater der Welt Düsseldorf 2021, Ruhrtriennale 2020 and ULTIMA – Oslo Contemporary Music Festival
In cooperation with tanzhaus nrw, Tanz im August / HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, d&b audiotechnik
Supported by Zentrum für Zeitgenössischen Tanz, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
Thanks to Goethe-Institut Villa Kamogawa (Kyoto)
Funded by BTHVN2020 – aus Mitteln der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, der Stadt Bonn und des Rhein-Sieg-Kreises, Kunststiftung NRW, RheinEnergie Stiftung Kultur

MOUVOIR/Stephanie Thiersch is funded by Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen and by Kulturamt der Stadt Köln.
Ensemble Garage is funded by Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.
Det Norske Solistkor / The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture.
All performances in the context of Theater der Welt Düsseldorf 2021 are funded by Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Photography drafts sculpture: Sou Fujimoto Architects

Trailer 2

Trailer 1

ARCHIPEL Ongoing

ARCHIPEL on Arte

“With ‘Archipel’, choreographer Stephanie Thiersch succeeds in creating a spectacle that is even one step ahead of the zeitgeist of climate protection.”
Dance/Arnd Wesemann

“The overwhelming quality of this ‘spectacle’ by several young companies, originally developed for the (cancelled) Ruhrtriennale 2020, lies in a sensuality that cannot be read immediately, but rather wants to be experienced. Brigitta Muntendorf’s composition, Stephanie Thiersch’s choreography and Sou Fujimoto’s floral sculpture, furiously taken over by 21 dancers and musicians, add up to a body of sound in the literal sense. An incredible maelstrom is created, for example, when the white-robed artists put aside their (classical) instruments and transform a vocal sequence consisting of only three notes into a continuous loop. The sauna-like climate in the adjoining venue ‘Central’ is hardly bearable, but one (almost) forgets it in view of the beguiling suggestiveness of this event, for which the word ‘spectacle’ is by no means sufficient.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung Online/Martin Krumbholz

“ARCHIPEL is a game with utopia and a crazy spectacle”.
Sandra Luzina/Arte

“Fascinating (…). Sounds, costumes, movements, stage design trigger a firework for the synapses in the audience’s brain and beam us through times, worlds, cultures. Somewhere between Jurassic Park, shamanistic trance dances from archaeological depths, spaceship scenes. Much of what Stephanie Thiersch has explored in her more than 20-year career as a choreographer returns here. Be it neurobiology, clubbing, African rituals. Add to this the crazy sound patterns of composer Brigitta Muntendorf, in which opera sounds and onomatopoeia become one.”
Deutschlandfunk Kultur/Nicole Strecker

“It’s an evening that’s really quite offbeat, that has its very own aesthetic, because it doesn’t have this classical dramaturgy. You really watch strange beings living their lives.”
Deutschlandfunk Kultur/Stefan Keim

“We humans no longer exist. But the energy that the neohumanoids have gained from their connection with the plants is limitless. At any rate, it is enough for 90 minutes of non-stop, powerful, high-energy choreographic theatre. Truly a spectacle that well deserves the long applause.”
“A magnificent, high-energy futuristic spectacle with a great innovative soundtrack.”
theater:pur/Dietmar Zimmermann