bodieSLANGuage – A Highgly Impressive Performance Piece

bodieSLANGuage – A Highgly Impressive Performance Piece

photos: Olga Khristolyubova

A month ago we already introduced you to the new innovative theater production bodieSLANGuage with a series of animated GIFs inspired by the concept of the play. In September of 2015 the show will go into its second round of performances that will happen from the 3rd till the 6th at 20h at Ballhaus Ost.

We saw the premiere of the piece last month and to be honest, it is the most amazing thing I have seen on a stage in Berlin in a very long time. If you read the first texts about the play you can already understand that it revolves around body language and incorporates sign language using deaf and hearing performers. But it was really impossible for me to imagine how this is going to be translated onto the stage.

The result of the work of the three choreographers from matanicola and the progressive wave and the 8 performers is hard to put into words. The play has several scenes that are quite different from each other. Some I would discribe as moving organic sculptures, other I would describe as traditional contemporary dance performances, some are solo singing acts and monologues or even comedic interludes. The play has a lot to offer and will never get boring and it never seized to amaze and surprise me.

I loved how the play manages to bring the performers together in one moving creature in the beginning and than showcase their very individualistic styles in the solo acts. All of the performers were amazing, but I was particularily impressed – once again – by Gal Naor who is also one of the choreographers (and was part of the House of Haunted House last year by the way). He functions as the medium between the deaf and hearing performers and in his solo parts he manages to be bizarre, gracious and just fucking cool at the same time.

I don’t want to spoil too much about the piece as it lives from its unexpected turns. I urge you to get some of the few tickets left for the upcoming shows this week as I can assure you that you will be impressed, regardless if you are a regular guest or a newbie to the world of independant theater. To warm your appetite we have some captivating impressions from our talented photographer Olga Khristolyubova after the jump.

Read on…

Read My bodieSLANGuage – Animated GIF Reactions

Read My bodieSLANGuage – Animated GIF Reactions

Read my BodieSLANGuange is a series of animated GIFs that we created in collaboration with the choreographer duo matanicola (Nicola Mascia & Matan Zamir) and the Sign Language interpreter and performance artist the progressive wave (Gal Naor). To continue iHeartBerlin’s ventures into the world of theater and dance we came up with this series as a digital add-on to the spectacular play bodieSLANGuage referencing elements of the performance and mixing them with slang and gestures of contemporary youth and pop culture presented in the style of the many popular GIF Tumblrs such as When you live in Berlin. We hope you enjoy it!

Read on…