Habitat/ Pandemic Version
by Doris Uhlich
2020 Tanzfestival RheinMain/ Frankfurt Mousonturm/LAB
In Habitat, the naked bodies of people slap, vibrate and clash with each other to the sound of electronic and abstract techno tracks. Such a utopian place, where bodies can freely interact, touch each other's sweaty skin and breath together, seems far, far away in view of the current pandemic. However, Doris Uhlich is prepared to accept this challenge, to find out where and how this utopia can still exist in times of Covid-19. What does the impossibility of physical intimacy mean? What kind of energy, melancholia, desire or even pleasure and relief could be the result of keeping distance? The performers celebrate their unity in diversity, even while being socially distanced. The bodies are in search of real, communal experiences and create opportunities to connect with the collective energy. Habitat remains to be an unashamed hymn on the naked body that takes us beyond cultural inscriptions and normative beauty ideals. The body will not be reduced to a fetishized object, but we will encounter it in its materiality and it will thereby be shown in all its glory, mass and fragility.
Concept, Choreography: Doris Uhlich
Performance: Anja Iwanowski, Carolita la Pomba, Hannah Sampé, Isaak Eden Kudaschov, Johanna Griesfeller, Jong Sung Myung, Katja Kämmerer, Klaus Lengefeld, Maria Tepper, Mim Schneider, Olina Welge, René Rumpf, Saeed Asad Sangabi, Ute Frederich, Ann Muller