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