Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmidt on LinkedIn: Generalintendanz (w/m/d) im Staatstheater Braunschweig (2024)

What a brilliant coup. The American choreographer Richard Siegal will be the new ballet director in Nuremberg and will start his work there in the 2025/26 season. This will make the Franconian city an important place on the European ballet map. What a wonderful and smart decision.The Spanish choreographer Goyo Montero previously held this position for 17 years and is now moving on of his own accord. Montero has done a great job.The picture shows a scene of Richard Siegal's 2023 work at the Schauspiel Köln "The body without organs" with his company "The Ballett of difference".The term "Body without Organs" was first used by French writerAntonin Artaudin his 1947 play"To Have Done With the Judgment of God", later adapted by the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze in his book"The Logic of Sense", and ambiguously expanded upon by himself and Guattari in both volumes of their work"Capitalism and Schizophrenia"."A »body without organs« is what the theater avant-gardist Antonin Artaud called for at the beginning of the 20th century, evoking forces that are meant to break aesthetic conventions and social norms. But is an avant-garde conceivable without the background of the tradition it abandons? Based on these considerations, Richard Siegal develops an almost dialectical choreography for Ballet of Difference in which strictly composed forms and their dissolution interpenetrate. For this, the US choreographer draws inspiration from a work he created in 2016 for the Sao Paulo Dance Company in Brazil: six pieces by the French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, which formed the musical basis of the choreography at the time, are now expanded by new electro-acoustic compositions by Lorenzo Bianchi Hoesch. The latter decomposes and overwrites the formal strictness of Rameau and, in combination with Richard Siegal’s choreography, unleashes the unconscious potentials of the Baroque. The perfect starting point, then, for an evening of dance that opens up completely new perspectives on Richard Siegal’s company: Between matter and form, between ballet codes and their deconstruction, BoDy (without) Organs shows the Ballet of Difference from its delicate and fragile side."(source: https://lnkd.in/dHVuBRZb)

24

Salzburger Festspiele: Stefan Zweig "Sternstunden der Menschheit"The great stage magician and director Thom Luz brings Stefan Zweig's "Sternstunden der Menschheit" to the stage. Even if the critics are a little critical - that is their job after all - the attempt to dramatize Zweig's texts and breathe life into them on stage is a brilliant undertaking. Ten times more interesting than the inevitable "Jedermann", Salzburg's great theatrical highlight. The special thing about Stefan Zweig's "Sternstunden" this evening is the brilliant band that accompanies the action on stage and plays Brazilian music. In this way, the music becomes another narrator.

13

1 Comment

Impressive statistics: 18.5 million spectators in German theaters in 2023, sorted by genre - the majority of whom will attend drama and children's and youth theater, together with an annual audience of almost 9.7 million (52%).It looks like a decent recovery. But what we cannot see are the losses compared to the pre-Corona years, which peaked at up to 19.7 million spectators. What is missing are indeed the concerts.

14

Rest in Peace: The outstanding composer Wolfgang Rihm died on the night of July 27th at the age of 72."Making art always means making yourself vulnerable. To be unassailable, you either have to become a critic or a bank director. But you must not become an artist." (Wolfgang Rihm 2022)"Wolfgang Rihm was one of the most important composers of his generation. Born in Karlsruhe in 1952, he began composing while still at school. The performance of his orchestral piece "Sektor IV aus Morphonie" at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 1974 made him internationally famous. He died on the night of July 27th at the age of 72, as his family confirmed."(Lydia Jeschke, SWR Klassik)https://lnkd.in/eb-F5rYm

86

10 Comments

ImpulsTanz-Festival ViennaDada Masilo’s HAMLET / The Dance Factory (ZA)Burgtheater Vienna July 23-27, 2024"HerHAMLETis a theatre performance with dance, singing, a violin and percussion. She radically trimmed the amount of words, thereby conjuring up a contemporary, universally comprehensible piece from the weighty classic.Here comesHAMLET! Following worldwide successes with reinterpretations ofRomeo and Juliet,Carmen,Swan Lake,Giselleand, most recently celebrated at Volkstheater,THE SACRIFICE, Dada Masilo presents her highly individual version of the wordiest of Shakespeare’s dramas on the world’s wide stage: at ImPulsTanz, it’s the stage of Burgtheater, to be precise. “Hamlet is a gloomy piece”, the South African star choreographer says, but “with a dash of black humour”. The main themes are the deceptive appearances of what is being said – and done – as well as evil intrigue: for example, Prince Hamlet’s betrayal of Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern or Polonius, and Uncle Claudius’ betrayal of King Hamlet. Masilo assigns herself the role of Ophelia, and she lets some of the female roles be played by men and male figures by women."

2

Bayreuth: You can do better!"... to ensure that the Wagner Festival becomes avant-garde again as it was in the time of its creator and not the Ragnarok of Wagner's continued bastardization."Why Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth is dissatisfiedReinhard J. Brembeck Süddeutsche Zeitung:"'Tannhäuser' remains 'Tannhäuser', no matter who conducts and sings. There are only gradations in quality, for which the audience is prepared to pay more or less money." You don't have to put on "Hansel and Gretel" straight away, but "it would be conceivable to have an annual premiere in the Festspielhaus, which would meet Wagner's desire for the new and avant-garde. Especially since all opera-making after Wagner has reacted to him to this day, whether by continuing or rejecting him, this applies to Puccini and Stockhausen, Debussy and George Benjamin, Henze and Rihm. But such an expansion would cost money, much more than Bayreuth currently has at its disposal, much more than it earns even with sold-out performances. At this point, the federal government, the reluctant Bavarians and the friends of Bayreuth are called upon to ensure that the Wagner Festival becomes avant-garde again as it was in the time of its creator and not the Ragnarok of Wagner's continued bastardization." (Brembeck, SZ July 25, 2024; Foto credits: Daniel Karman)https://lnkd.in/eUcT4ziP

12

6 Comments

Trajal Harrell:La Biennale Danza di Veneziapresented theSilver Lionto the dancer and choreographerTrajal Harrell on Sunday, 21st August 2024.“Trajal Harrellis a true original”, writes Wayne McGregor in presenting the recipient of the Silver Lion, whom he had already invited to Biennale Danza two years ago withMaggie the Cat, a work inspired by Tennessee Williams’ play to question power, gender, intolerance, inclusion.“A graduate of Yale University, Centre national de la danse (Yvonne Rainer) and Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, his foundational research is based on a rich conversation between post-modern dance, the New York voguing scene and Japanese dance Butoh. His work reimagines our pasts and laughs at chronological, geographical and cultural distance, leading to performances in venues dedicated as much to visual arts as to live theatre. Harrell uses the tools of critical thought, in particular research about gender, feminism and post-colonialism, to mine his own deep knowledge of art and dance history. The result of extensive research, his shows are like so many sensitive, hybrid and joyful objects that borrow equally from fashion, pop culture, and avant-garde artists. It is in this unique mix of genres, the surprising juxtaposition of forms and uniquely vast emotional range that Harrell’s work engages and enthrals. We laugh as quickly as we cry in a visceral and sensorial rollercoaster of poignancy and joy”.Trajal Harrell returns to Biennale Danza for the 18thFestival with two works:TambourinesandSister or He Buried the Body.Biographical notesTrajal Harrell(Douglas - USA, 1973) is an American dancer and choreographer. Known above all for the series of choreographic interventions titledTwenty Looks or Paris is Burning at the Judson Church,Trajal Harrell is now considered one of the most important choreographers of his generation. After graduating from Yale University, he continued his studies at the Centre national de la danse and at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. His works, which arise from the cross-fertilisation between different choreographic languages rooted in gender, feminist and post-colonial studies, reimagine the past beyond chronological, geographic and cultural distances, paying particular attention to the aesthetics of the costumes, often inspired by high fashion. His works have been presented in many venues. His works includeUsed Abused and Hung Out to Dry(2013),The Ghost of Montpellier Meets the Samurai(2015),The Return of La Argentina, In the Mood for Frankie(2016),Caen Amour(2016),Juliet and Romeo.In 2017 he presented the performative exhibitionHoochie Koochieat the Barbican Centre Art Gallery (London). He was named “Dancer of the Year” by Tanz magazine in 2018; he has also won the Doris Duke Impact Award and a Bessie Award.

5

"Liveliness only arises from the acceptance of the unavailable."Cultural Theory 11: Modern Sociologist Hartmut RosaM.A. Theater and Music Management @hfmdk frankfurtIn the last seminar in cultural theory, Italian singer and Master’s student @Eleonora Vacchi introduced the Jena sociologist @Hartmut Rosa, who many may already know from his interesting book RESONANZ.Rosa’s subject areas are the diagnosis of time, the analysis of modernity, the foundations of society, identity theories, time sociology and acceleration. He himself describes his resonance theory as a “sociology of world relations”.In the last seminar of the one-year course CULTURAL THEORY, singer and master's student Eleonora Vacchi presented his book on unavailability, which is directly linked to his resonance theory. Hartmut Rosa writes about unavailability: »The cultural driving force of the form of life that we call modern is the idea, the wish and the desire to MAKE THE WORLD AVAILABLE. Liveliness, contact and real experience, however, arise from the encounter with the unavailable.«Rosa also speaks of a "dead world" in which everything would be completely known, planned and controlled. And that is the world we are moving towards if we do not learn to act differently."By aiming to make the world available on all (...) levels - individual, cultural, institutional and structural," says sociologist Hartmut Rosa, "we encounter the world as a POINT OF AGGRESSION." This is the status quo, a world that is becoming increasingly uncontrollable and which, if it is not already a dead world, must ignite again and again because we simply do not want to do without making the world available.Eleonora Vacchi divided Rosa's availability thoughts into four fields, which were described as examples:Making the world visible - Making the world physically accessible - Making the world controllable - Making the world usable and putting it into service.But Hartmut Rosa warns: The program of making the world available not only doesn't "work", but turns into its opposite.This should be a big warning to all of us. The arts and culture are large areas of the unavailable. In theater and music we tell stories of love and being alive, of our dreams and of moments of failure and weakness. This creates many new, living narratives. But the way the world is developing, every dream will soon be "available", everything is pre-programmed, and surprises will then be a thing of the past. This would be the end of arts and culture.

15

MA Theater and Music Management at HfMDK FrankfurtInternational Theatersystems 11: United KingdomWe have recently read a lot about English-speaking theater in the media. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on the shrinking budgets of music theaters and on summer festivals such as the Glyndebourne Opera Festival (Gina Thomas, 7/17/24).Our assistant, youth theater director Janina Haring, gave a wonderful introduction to theater in the U.K. in our course on the world's international theater systems.The theater in the U.K. is one of the oldest in the western world. It began in the 14th century with mystery cycles & miracle plays. In the 16th century, secular drama finally made its breakthrough, and all religious theater performances were largely banned. In most cases, a high-ranking nobleman close to the crown granted a company the license to show theater performances. The company then performed under their name, as the well known Lord Chamberlain's Men. The Elizabethan era began.William Shakespeare, the protagonist of his time, contributed 38 new plays to the Elizabethan drama, which we already learnt and read about at school and which many of us have already performed in school & college companies.In 1603, after Queen Elizabeth's death, the public theaters were closed for 18 years. This did not stop the nobles from offering 'special' theater performances in small, closed circles. In the 1660s, the first stage machinery was created in England. In the 18th century, theater life expanded, especially in London, with the founding of many new theaters and companies. During this time, the 'Beggar's Opera' became the most successful theatre event, which Brecht later made generous use of and used to create his Threepenny Opera.In the 18th century, the first elaborate stage sets were created for the so-called "Sensation Dramas", which tried to reproduce the natural world. One of the best stage designers of his time was the great Bruce "Sensation" Smith(!). Remember the name.In the 20th century, theatre continued to gain momentum, with contemporary plays and abstract productions. The influence of Ibsen and Chekhov was unimaginable. Many satires were created in political theatre shows.In the 20th century, there was a great literary renaissance of the English Drama with dramatist such as Edward Bond, Caryl Churchill, Michael Frayn, Christopher Fry, Tom Stoppard, among others.In the London theaters of the 1990s, a new era of British drama began with new authors such as Sarah Kane, Mark Ravenhill, Simon Stephens and others. They were later also shown in Germany, for example in the Baracke of the Deutsches Theater Berlin and at the Schaubühne Berlin. Today, London is a hip theater city, and there are exciting theater festivals in the U.K., such as the Edinburgh Intern. Festival. But of course there are also problems: most theaters in the U.K. only work with short-term engagements and many theater artists live in very precarious conditions.

16