photos: Anna Agliardi.
In the last decades, Berlin’s international scene has grown widely and multiple talents from different backgrounds enriched the cultural landscape of the city. One of those fresh talents had her Berlin stage debut last weekend and we are more than impressed.
Choreographer Kiani del Valle showed her first performance piece “Las Casas Invisibles” (Spanish for the invisible houses) with her newly formed KDV Dance Ensemble at the spectacular Funkhaus concert stage.
The place which usually hosts concerts and festivals for avant-garde and contemporary electronic music was the perfect setting for the interdisciplinary performance. With a collective of 10 incredibly strong dancers, she created an immersive story that floated seamlessly from childhood memories into the experience of migration, police brutality and longing for connection.
Where are we looking for the sense of Home if there is no safe place left on earth?
Del Valle’s answer to the feeling of homelessness is a radical dystopia. I felt like watching a retro-futuristic version of the Fifth Element that shows how disconnected we are as humans towards each other.
Her audiovisual language created through costumes, sounds, and movements is a collaborative effort. Fashion stylist Olive Duran was responsible for the costumes, and musicians Raven, Floating Points, and the mesmerizing Lotic created the soundtrack inspiring an almost otherworldly atmosphere. Especially through the harshly distorted music, the audience was always kept on their toes throughout the play.
The highlight was the choreographic language. It felt natural to the powerful dancers who did not miss to show their individual strength while being quite cohesive as an ensemble. The KDV might be quite new to the regular alternative dance scene, but with this great debut, they certainly made an entrance. And that proves to me: it pays off to be bold with your creative vision in Berlin.
Hopefully, they will repeat their show that only played two times so far. We will update our event guide when this happens.
If you are looking for more dance-related events and performances check our event guide.
Big Thanks to Anna Agliardi for the photos.
