Barbara Fuchs's Latest Posts

Fatty Chain
Side by side, behind each other, around in a circle – hands held out, shoulders clasped, elbows hooked underneath – six dancers move through the room like one unit. Together they create the rhythm that guides them. Who leads the group? Is there a master of ceremonies? Through the complexity of movement, rhythm and song, the performers merge into a unity, a chain: like the links of a chain, they are interwoven, connected, sometimes open, sometimes closed – without beginning – without end, sometimes as a circle, sometimes as a row. With their movements they interweave, tie themselves to each other and thus create a human web, a body chain. They negotiate with each other, each is responsible – each chain is as strong as its weakest link. The performers engage in an increasingly frenzied game, breathing new energy and fun into the time-honored dances and chants. This creates a dynamic and rhythm that is also transferred to the audience and breathes new life into the tradition of the round dance. With her new production, choreographer Barbara Fuchs immerses herself in the tradition of the REIG – in this oldest cultural asset of the Occident, dance and song become a community-building ritual. All movements – no matter from which culture they originate – become a ceremonial act and the dance a magical ceremony of movement. The bodies of the performers are central to the ritual acts as well as to the collective embodiment. After the round dance was replaced by the couple dance in Europe, this collective kind of embodiment still shows up in everyday ritual actions: from playing and storytelling together in kindergarten, to spiritual body communities in yoga and tai chi, to collectively ecstatic bodies in la ola waves and communal chants in soccer stadiums FATTY CHAIN is a production of tanzfuchs PRODUKTION in cooperation with ehrenfeldstudios e.V., supported by the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Fonds Darstellende Künste. tanzfuchs PRODUKTION receives top funding from the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
DATES
Sat. August 21 I 6pm I PREMIERE
Sun. August 22 I 4pm
Mon. 23 & Tue. August 24 I 10am
Sat. 16 & Sun. October 17 I 4pm
at ehrenfeldstudios, Cologne
*Sat. & Sun. before the performance: “ONE MOMENT, PLEASE” – a 10-minute improvisation performance by Caroline Simon
TEAM
Direction, Stage, Light: Barbara Fuchs
Music: Jörg Ritzenhoff
Performance: Odile Foehl, Katharina Sim, Alina Feske, Arthur Schopa, Michael Zier, Philine Herrlein
Costume: Stefanie Bold Lighting: Wolfgang Pütz
Press Work: Kerstin Rosemann
Production Management: Olivia Bott
NRW Scholarship holder for children’s and youth theater: Ronja Nadler

“MUNCH!”
Dancing plates, a hiccup that moves down to the feet, chewing bodies, talkative dishes, a singing spoon, a delicate egg dance; our tummies are melting with delight. After the huge success of the play “Headwalker”, Barbara Fuchs and her team study now the theme “the meal and its rituals”. The actors invite us around the table: everything that is presented on the table will be swallowed, savoured, consumed, chewed on, listened to and digested by the actors and their audience. During this eating concert, live-produced sounds will be flown from some microphones and will be mixed with pre-recorded sounds. An experimental and respectful way of treating food and drinks allows a sensory experience of a particular genre. At the end of the play, the children are invited to discover the stage and will be tested on their ability to recognize different tastes. The premiere of “MUNCH!” took place on 16. September 2012 at tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf.
DATES
23 January 2022 I 4 pm
24 January & 25 January 2022 I 10 am
Guest performance at the Baden-Baden Theatre
TEAM
Artistic direction/ Choreography/ Concept: Barbara Fuchs
Dance/ Choreography: Emily Welther, Odile Foehl
Sound / Music: Jörg Ritzenhoff
Costumes: Sabine Kreiter
Photo: MEYER ORIGINALS
Co-produced by tanzhaus nrw, Düsseldorf, BARNES CROSSING – Freiraum für TanzPerformanceKunst
Supported by: Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, NRW Landesbüro freie Kultur, Landschaftsverband Rheinland
Press quotes:
Melanie Suchy, Rheinische Post (Düsseldorf), 18. 09. 2012
Munch dance for the very youngest
[…] It consists of a huge tablecloth, plates and cutlery on the floor in the middle of two audience rows. At the end of the fake table, the choreographer peels carrots, bakes waffles and controls the volume of Jörg Ritzenhoff’s lively music. Once she smacks into her microphone and gives the dancers a beat and a way of moving: fast and rakishly twitching their bones or banana-like curving. Munch dance.
It is beautiful when things themselves make sound, almost music: the dancers drop spoons, gather them together, spread them out on the floor again. A varied, semi-ordered sound of sounds is created. Dance? The two of them move nimbly in a squatting position, get caught and roll around, push plates and eggs away with their toes without breaking, and swing and slide elegantly on their knees on the finally flour-stained playing surface.
The children look on eagerly, wondering too. That is good. […]
Dorothea Marcus, akT, the theatre newspaper – October 2012
Sweet egg dance
Barbara Fuchs premiered “Munch!” a dance and sound performance for children aged 0-4 years – and captivates with a beautiful basic idea, which could become even more exuberant in terms of dance and music.
[…] The half-hour performance has an extremely sensual and charming basic idea. It picks up toddlers directly in their living environment, takes up their perceptions and movements, their facial expressions and gestures, alienated through dance, so that they recognize themselves in them. Nevertheless, many scenes are too long (such as the clinking spoon scene), too contemplative, and the attention of the little ones quickly fades. More could easily happen on stage – the potential for this lies in both the choreography and the two dancers. […]

QUERFELD-REIN I PREPARATION
Here, a preparatory introduction is offered in order to make it easier for the young audience to “find their way in” to the aesthetics of contemporary dance before attending the theatre. For groups in which many children or young people have a great urge to move or the concentration span is low, a mediation format prior to the performance is recommended.
Get in touch, we will find the right format for you.
Contact:
Arthur Schopa
Phone +49 177 7 82 28 25

QUERFELD-RAUS I FOLLOW UP
The follow-up format offers the young audience a joint conclusion after the theatre visit: what has been seen is sensually recreated through guided physical exercises and activated again through the body memory. Specific features of the dance piece, such as the use of costumes, objects, etc., or the musical level are also the starting point for guided improvisations that offer the children the opportunity to relate what they have seen to their own world of experience.
Reflections into another artistic medium, such as painting activities, can also be used as a mediation strategy.
And of course the young audience can exchange ideas in a guided discussion both in the group and with the artists and dance mediators.
Get in touch, we will find the right format for you.
Contact:
Arthur Schopa
Phone +49 177 7 82 28 25

DANCE @ HOME
DANCE @ HOME
DANCE @ HOME WORKSHOP
Digital Zoom-Workshop for children in kindergarden, pre-school and their companions.
By mutual agreement via zoom. Contact us and we will find a suitable date!
Contact:
Arthur Schopa
Phone +49 177 7 82 28 25