It has been attempted many times to bring together techno and club culture and the world of dance and ballet. And while the results are often fun and entertaining, impressive even – they are rarely authentic. But if the results are great – what does it matter? Well, the answer to that is connected to a lot of challenges the techno scene and club culture are facing. While still being marginalized and disadvantaged they are heavily commodified and commercialized in recent years which has caused a lot of grief and disagreement in the scene.
So, naturally, when I see a project like DANCÆ and its associated dance company Ballet sur_real that is rooted in the actual scene it makes me excited because it brings out the best in creative work on the intersection of different disciplines and genres.
I saw the formation first as a female group of dancers in the backyard of the former Scala Club and Kingsize bar performing to an experimental fusion of electronic sounds and live piano. At the second performance I saw in the Quantum Oddity Gallery last fall, male dancers joined the group and a more techno focussed sound was present with very clear references to club and DJ culture as part of the performance itself. This became even more refined in the following performance earlier this year that expanded the act and integrated a stunning very club-friendly new media installation by Ausgang Studio at Kantgaragen.
Just last week, at their latest performance program Chasing Nothing at Haus der Visionäre it felt like their project had now found its most pure and perfect form. Not only did they have a beautifully haunting set by Dominic Kießling that referenced the first show I saw working with floating transparent foils, also the performances themselves were elevated and refined like a vision that has been worked on for long with a lot of heart and sweat. The outcome was visually just stunning.
When I hear the two leaders of the project, Soraya Schulthess and Renato de Leon, talk about it I hear a lot of care and love for the techno scene, the nightlife culture and ballet dance. The way they phrase everything around it seems mindful and respectful to the scene – they’re not chasing something like a trend or a gimmick. The choice of collaborators, the choice of music, the references in the dance – these are all very carefully thought through elements of a greater idea. It feels like an honoring rather than a commodification.
And apart all of that it also just looks fucking cool.
I had the pleasure to take a few photos at their last performance Chasing Nothing that I wanna share here. And if you want to experience DANCÆ yourself you should keep your eyes peeled to our event guide here or on IG because two new projects at Monopol and Monom are already planned for the second half of the year. We are definitely going to be there for it!
