“MASTERWORK FOR SIX DANCERS” celebrates the expressive power of the body while also placing it in unusual and challenging situations. Inspired by Bauhaus aesthetics, the dancers play with objects and movement, questioning our perceptions of the body.

Historically, ‘masterwork’ describes a genius, outstanding piece of art. In the choreography by Emese Cuhorka, Csaba Molnár, and En–Knap, however, the term has a more direct meaning: It is about the bodies of the dancers, which are both celebrated and challenged. Objects like yoga mats, sticks, and fabric tubes are used as costumes and provoke whimsical, humorous movements, while eventually the boundaries between bodies and objects dissolve. Inspired by Oskar Schlemmer’s “Triadic Ballet” and Bauhaus aesthetic, “MASTERWORK FOR SIX DANCERS” is a pleasurable attempt to free the body from the meanings and symbols projected onto it.

Thu 27.8.
from 20:00 to 21:00 HAU1
● Before the Stage

Fri 28.8.
from 20:00 to 21:00 HAU1

Sat 29.8.
from 21:00 to 22:00 HAU1

In “HORNFUCKERS”, Diana Niepce explores the limits of the body and challenges ideas about what a human body can be and do. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, seven performers navigate an unstable environment while confronting prejudice, risk, and vulnerability.

Focusing on physical and psychological boundaries, choreographer Diana Niepce’s work is characterised by radically expanding the limits of the body, movement, and dance itself. Staying true to this paradigm, Niepce’s most recent piece is set in a post-apocalyptic universe composed of order and chaos, submission and revolt, combining dance, aerial acrobatics, and performance. On stage, seven performers balance an unstable and dangerous terrain that defies gravity, permanently at risk of losing their physical and psychological balance. “HORNFUCKERS” is a confrontation with existential questions and stereotypes as well as a challenge of the human body’s norms.

Sat 22.8.
from 18:00 to 19:00 Radialsystem
Audio Description & Haptic Access Tour

Sun 23.8.
from 18:00 to 19:00 Radialsystem
Audio Description & Haptic Access Tour | Beyond the Stage | Workshop

“F*cking Future” explores how power, violence, and traditional ideas of masculinity shape society. Featuring eight dancers, the piece celebrates diversity, queerness, and individual freedom while challenging rigid gender roles.

When fascist tendencies are on the rise, so are militarisation, violence, and toxic masculinity. Marco da Silva Ferreira investigates the choreographies inherent to these oppressive systems, while at the same time exploring possibilities for subversion. Eight dancers, dressed in chainmail that look both combative and seductive, embody various archetypes in an arena setting. Robots march next to drag queens, knights transform into clubbers – and amidst all uniformity, there is always potential for individual expression. “F*cking Future” is Ferreira’s approach on the deconstruction of masculinity and a celebration of queerness and freedom.

Fri 14.8.
from 21:00 to 22:00 Radialsystem

Sat 15.8.
from 21:00 to 22:00 Radialsystem

Sun 16.8.
from 20:00 to 21:00 Radialsystem

Mohamed Toukabri combines different dance styles and personal memories to explore the history of his own body. The piece questions the rules of dance and offers new perspectives on the body and society.

All bodies are living archives, and to dance means to explore those archives. Mohamed Toukabri, whose choreographic œuvre is marked by an outstanding ability to navigate between different worlds, sets out in his new work to become an archaeologist of his own body. Blending breaking, postmodern dance, personal and dance history, he goes on a journey through all the layers of dance heritage within him. In a dialogue of Toukabri’s movement and the words of playwright Essia Jaïbi as a backdrop, the piece both politicises and reinvents the rulebook of dance in real-time, inviting us to re-imagine our bodies and perceptions together.

Fri 14.8.
from 19:00 to 20:00 Sophiensæle

Sat 15.8.
from 19:00 to 20:00 Sophiensæle

Sun 16.8.
from 18:00 to 19:00 Sophiensæle

“TRAPICANA” explores the tension between cultural authenticity and exotic stereotypes through the example of Havana’s famous Tropicana nightclub. The piece combines Afro-Cuban dance with trap music and challenges stereotypical perceptions.

The legendary nightclub Tropicana in Havana (Cuba), with its opulent shows and glamorous history, serves as the point of departure for Joana Tischkau’s new work “TRAPICANA”. Her collaboration with Jeremy Nedd, Sophie Yukiko, and the Malpaso Dance Company addresses the phenomenon of tourist traps and its inherent tension between cultural authenticity and exoticisation. In a dark revue that unfolds like a bizarre nightmare, distorted traditional as well as imagined Afro-Cuban dances collide with trap music. While dismantling clichés that fuel exoticising fantasies, “TRAPICANA” crafts new images that attempt to capture the reality it aims to portray.

Thu 13.8.
from 20:00 to 21:45 HAU1 (sold out)

Fri 14.8.
from 19:00 to 20:15 HAU1

Sat 15.8.
from 21:00 to 22:15 HAU1

Sun 16.8.
from 17:00 to 18:15 HAU1
● Beyond the Stage Plus