Szenefenster

«Grain of thought» is a duet featuring two dancers who revive a memory, accompanied by a voice, that intertwining with the music, leads us through time. The idea was born when thinking of how our memories fade through time, what makes us remember them (smell, colours, sounds, touch) and what of those we remember. Some details stay some other go, perhaps what we thought it was important back then is not what we remember now.

The voice and music help us recreate a memory that takes shape in our mind as ideas or pictures, and how we filter all the experiences of one memory into this. Time has passed, the filtering of all the aspects of a memory doesn’t stop, when once there was a sea of aspects to hook on, we are now left with only a fraction of what it was. The dance develops reviving moments between two people, it is at times triggered by external inputs giving it a twist and redirecting it in a new path.

Choreography, Performance: Angela Demattè, Victor Rottier

«Joy» explores humor in the face of challenging moments. Humor that unlocks our capacity for resilience and allows us to experience joy.

You will see an interpretation of «Rodeo» by Agnes de Mille, and a segment from Šmitaitė’s piece «My Ground Does Not Break», which explores women’s resilience during exile and imprisonment.

The short pieces are part of Šmitaitė’s research «Humor and Dance», which she has been developing since 2022 in regular consultation with Ira Seidenstein (Slava Snow Show, Cirque du Soleil).

Concept & Performance: Grėtė Šmitaitė
Visual and dramaturgical consultation: Alissa Šnaider
Performance: Alba Glatz, Flavien Renaud

Emilia Roig writes about the possible end of marriage as a social institution – at the same time, the number of marriages in Switzerland has recently been rising again. While marriage long served to secure social status, inheritance, and property, in the 20th century, not least thanks to Hollywood, another promise came to the fore: that of the greatest possible romantic fulfillment.

This longing for love is also reflected in the ratings of popular series such as Bridgerton and dating shows such as Love Is Blind. What would bell hooks say about this one-sided concept of love?

In the web of old systems, new ideas of love, and diverse lifestyles, the artist duo Sbika-Zubaidy asks what marriage means today—especially when it is the only way to obtain residency status. What dependencies, expectations, and challenges arise from this? And what happens to one’s own emotional world when one has to perform love—does one perhaps actually fall in love?

They negotiate these questions with theatrical means in an absurd dating show. At the beginning of their research, Donya and Aws show initial sketches and open up a space between seriousness, play, and social reality.

From and with: Aws Al-Zubaïdy, Donya Speaks

“That’s life” is a tragicomic physical theater project that explores the tension between inability to act and the will to change. It is currently in the ideation phase. Movement research with scenography is the starting point for the creative work. The stage design acts as a playmate for the two people on stage. Their movement quality, their relationship, and their actions are determined by it. They fight against it, immerse themselves in it, let themselves go, or resist it.

The piece arises from the need to develop an accessible language of movement: it should also be accessible to an audience that is not familiar with the conventions that are common in an artistic or academic milieu.

Creation & Performance: Simon Thöni, Chloé Schach