For the first time since 2019, the international festival Tanz im August, presented by HAU Hebbel am Ufer, is once again showing a full three-week programme with international and local choreographers from different generations. A total of 21 productions with around 200 artists from over 25 countries are being shown in 87 performances at HAU Hebbel am Ufer and 6 other venues in Berlin.
Image above: Adam Linder, LOYALTY © Photo: Diana Pfammatter, 2021
In this last edition under the artistic directorship of Virve Sutinen the focus is on the influential Swedish-Italian choreographer Cristina Caprioli. Tanz im August is devoting the big retrospective “ONCE OVER TIME” to her, with over 22 works from the past two decades. Among the other highlights of this 34th festival, with 3 first performances and 8 German premieres, are the opening production, by the Australian company Marrugeku at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, and work by the Catalan company La Veronal, the Brazilian choreographer Bruno Beltrão and Oona Doherty, from Northern Ireland.
“The programme means we can look forward once again to sold-out performances, lively discussions and upbeat after-shows – We can’t ignore the fact that war is being waged in Europe, and is likely to continue into August, that the climate crisis is intensifying – nor do we want to. My grateful thanks go to Virve Sutinen, who has left her mark on Tanz im August during her eight-year directorship. Thanks to her artistic sense we have seen so many artists and companies who have moved and inspired us. Virve has brought large forms to Berlin, developed new discursive formats and (re)gained general and professional audiences for dance in large numbers. Thanks to her strong positioning, Tanz im August has been able to grow into its present form: a dance festival with an outstanding profile in Germany and Europe.”
Annemie Vanackere, artistic director of HAU Hebbel am Ufer
The 2022 Programme
After comprehensive retrospectives of Rosemary Butcher (2015), La Ribot (2017) and Deborah Hay (2019), Tanz im August now turns its attention to the well-known choreographer Cristina Caprioli. For over 20 years the Stockholm-based Italian-born artist has been revolutionising choreography by taking it to its limits. A passionate advocate of interdisciplinary and collaborative ways of working, Caprioli has produced an extensive oeuvre ranging from dance, film and texts to installations. Together with 22 collaborators, the retrospective “ONCE OVER TIME” shows over 22 works created between 2002 and today. The programme is accompanied by a publication that will appear in early August.
“Nothing can beat the live experience! For Tanz im August the year 2022 marks a return to the ‘new normal’ after the early months of the pandemic. The extensive Cristina Caprioli / ccap retrospective “ONCE OVER TIME” goes against the trend of continually producing and consuming new works, but is an overwhelming choreographic event. The aim in 2022 is also to develop new touring and artistic concepts, and this year represents the culmination of a valuable dialogue we have had with artists from Indigenous backgrounds.”
Virve Sutinen, artistic director of Tanz im August 2014–2022
One focus of the festival is on artists with Indigenous backgrounds. In the opening production, “Jurrungu Ngan-ga / Straight Talk”, by the Australian dance company Marrugeku, Indigenous people and refugees find a shared basis in dance, narrative, music and poetry. Elle Sofe Sara, a Sami artist, and Martha Hincapié Charry, a Columbian artist with Quimbaya roots, draw attention to the rights of Indigenous people in Northern Europe and the Amazon region. In “J’ai pleuré avec les chiens – TIME, CREATION, DESTRUCTION” Daina Ashbee continues her anti-colonial work in a ritual of coexistence.
Following its renovation in 2018 the Haus der Berliner Festspiele is once again a Tanz im August venue. The festival has invited five productions to perform there. After the opening premier by Marrugeku, dance enthusiasts can expect work by the Catalan company La Veronal with Marcos Morau, by Oona Doherty, from Northern Ireland, by the Brazilian choreographer Bruno Beltrão, showing his latest creation, and by the two eminent flamenco performers Israel Galván and Niño de Elche.
International guests such as the American performance artist Faye Driscoll, the French-Senegalese choreographer Amala Dianor, the Thai choreographer Pichet Klunchun, the Canadian choreographer Frédérick Gravel and the South African choreographer Robyn Orlin with the City Theater & Dance Group introduce themselves for the first time to Berlin audiences with German premieres. There will be a first performance by the Finnish choreographer Maija Hirvanen. Inspired by voguing and ballroom culture, American choreographer Trajal Harrell interprets Keith Jarrett’s famous The Köln Concert and Danish artist Mette Ingvartsen explores the historical phenomenon dancing manias. On the opening day of the festival the Swedish artist duo Byström Källblad and Berlin dancers send “City Horses” out into public space on a route through the city, staring at the Humboldt Forum, ending at HAU2.
Berlin’s own dance scene is eclectically represented by a new production by Jefta van Dinther, an interactive format by Sebastian Matthias and a choreography by Adan Linder, insprired by ballet. In addition ten young Berlin urban-dance artists present the results of their brilliant collaboration in the third and final year of the project URBAN FEMINISM in HAU3. After a series of workshops and mentored rehearsals on lighting design and dance dramaturgy, the artists merge hip-hop, breaking, popping, krump and house into sensational compositions.
The stage programme is extended by numerous audience formats with free admission. They include Meet the Artists talks, On the Sofa conversations with festival artists and other experts, book presentations, online forums in the series Happy to Listen and panel discussions.
Tanz im August 2022 offers live audio descriptions on two different occasions to visitors with impaired vision. The service includes a Haptic Access Tour of introduction 75 minutes before the performances.
Five family-friendly productions with special ticket prices for children are aimed at a new young audience.
The festival centre at HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU2), designed by the Berlin architectural office c/o now, is the meeting place for artists, viewers and festival makers. Here you can find the Bibliothek im August library, the box office for tickets, the information desk and the WAU café & restaurant. Professionals also meet here on Fridays for Toast’n’Talks in the Bibliothek im August.
Venues for 2022
HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU1/HAU2/HAU3), Haus der Berliner Festspiele, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Radialsystem, SOPHIENSÆLE, St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz + Public Space
WHEN?
Freitag, 5. August – Samstag, 27. August 2022
