Sasha Waltz & Guests Travelogue 1: Twenty to eight

Dancer and choreographer Sasha Waltz studied dance at the School for Dance Development in Amsterdam. After working in New York in 1986-87 she returned to Euope to collaborate with other choreographers, artists and musicians. In 1993, she was artist in residence at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. Here she did short working sessions (1 week) with different musicians, dancers and visual artists. This resulted in presentations that delivered material for her first major choreography 'Travelogue 1: Twenty to eight'. In 1994 and 1995 she finished the Travelogue-trilogy with the pieces 'Tears break fast' en 'All ways four steps'.
This trilogy made her name. In the second half of the nineties she created, also with the Grand Theatre as coproducer, the pieces Allee der Kosmonauten and Zweiland. Further information about Sasha Waltz and her company: www.sashawaltz.de

Starting point for the dance-performance 'Twenty to eight' is the kitchen. On this location, five people meet. The kitchen acts as a mirror in which rituals, habits and behavior patterns can be observed and reflected as they truly are. Through these reflections a web of relationships is woven. The characters run around, neurotic and obsessive in their actions, lonely and lost, unable to find a way out - prisoners of their own social structures.

Sasha Waltz on her choreographic work: "Humor, aggression and sensuality are important elements of my choreographic work. Use of concrete objects, sets, film editing techniques, and the grotesque movements of the silent movies are major sources of inspiration in developing my movement vocabulary. The language is expressive and emotional, but still leaves space for abstraction. The simple events of daily life with comic turning points build the contrast to the dramatic and emotionally loaded parts. I concentrate on detail and the subtlety of gestures and action to create an intricate and rhythmic picture of our time. Cliché and stereotype transform the characters into caricatures of themselves. The music is a driving force in the creation of my pieces."

Choreography and direction: Sasha Waltz * choreography and dance: Nasser Martin Gousset, Takako Suzuki, Charlotte Zerbey, Thomas Lehmen/Akos Hargitai, Sasha Waltz * scenography: Barbara Steppe * music: Tristan Honsinger Quintett * lightdesign: Thomas Binsert * technical direction: André Pronk * production: Grand Theatre Groningen, Sasha Waltz & Guests.

At Festival Mesa Verde (International Contemporary Dance Festival) in Porto Alegre (RS) Brazil.