GHOST TRIO B - corps multiples

Repertory

2018 / 6 performers / stage: 15 x 10 m / no seating / 0:55 h

ABOUT THE PIECE

// Premiere: 10. January 10, 2018, Théâtre du Crochetan, Monthey (CH)

German premiere: January 19, 2018, Ringlokschuppen Ruhr, Mülheim 

// in coproduction with: Théâtre du Crochetan Monthey (CH), Ringlokschuppen Ruhr Mülheim, Theater im Ballsaal Bonn.

// Funded by: Kunststiftung NRW, Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bundesstadt Bonn, Théâtre-ProVS, Le Conseil de la Culture Etat du Valais, La Loterie Romande

CocoonDance awakens (again) ghosts! "GHOST TRIO B - corps multiples" is tied in, as a completely independent production, with "GHOST TRIO A - corps furtifs", which premiered during the Beethovenfest Bonn 2017.

While GHOST TRIO A revolved around the images of corporeality that seemed to dissolve and then suddenly reappeared with new movements and a new idea of life, GHOST TRIO B seeks to build immediacy and attraction in relation to everyone in the room. The perception of ghostly bodies is aimed at the detachment of the body from the precedence of stories. The question of the existence of ghosts is not even asked. Instead, CocoonDance goes directly, together with the audience on the quest for the incomprehensible, yet in-conceived body.

The ghosts, the "impossible bodies", are this time are all bodies in the room, both performers and spectators, as the subtitle of the play, "corps multiples" already suggests.

Bodies are not simply seen, but they are perceived in a haptic-visual way. The movements draw through both the bodies of the dancers and the audience. It is precisely the coming together of different movements, velocities and directions that interfere with each other and thus produce the rhythms, the bodies and the sensations of the performance. In this assemblage of movements, seeing and touching are folded into one another. The rhythms of the touch are operating autonomously, both on the level of movement and on the level of sensation. They constantly breaking up the formations and bringing them together to new and different structures. (Gerko Egert: Touch, Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2016)

// By and with: Fa-Hsuan Chen, Martina De Dominicis, Álvaro Esteban, Daniel Morales, Werner Nigg, Susanne Schneider / András Déri, Marie Viennot / Choreography, direction: Rafaële Giovanola / Composition: Franco Mento / Light, space: Boris Kahnert / Costumes: Annika Ley / Choreographic Assistance: Leonardo Rodrigues / Photos: Klaus Fröhlich / Dramaturgy and Concept: Rainald Endraß // Management: Mechtild Tellmann

Trailer: Michael Maurissens/ Carré Blanc Productions

PRESS CLIPPINGS

"Once again, the Bonn-based dance ensemble CocoonDance breaks the conventional stage experience - not only in terms of space. Choreographer Rafaële Giovanola plays in "Ghost Trio B - corps multiples", which celebrated its German premiere in Mülheim, again in a sophisticated way with our perception.

The others - they are nothing but bodies. As the faces are hidden, one only looks at the contours, clothing, and movements of the people. ... Here the viewer becomes - if he wants to - a performer. Since everyone in this  about 60-headed crowd is trying to spot out the six professional ghost dancers, who are hardly noticeable under the masks and in street clothing. ... This piece becomes a hide-and-seek game. "Ghost Trio B - corps multiples" is more than an original dance piece: it is an experiment of body, outside and self-perception. Exciting." (Bettina Trouwborst, tanzweb.org)

"An entertaining evening with a fulminant climax and a quick ending, in which you will nevertheless miss nothing. I leave the room with sharpened senses, and I am pleased to know that CocoonDance will also show their future productions always at the Ringlokschuppen. What a gain for the Ruhr Region. "(Judith Ouwens, TRAILER 01/2018)

"The quality label 'experience' is not uncommonly used in cultural journalism, but in this case, that may well be the case." (Hagen Haas, General-Anzeiger, Bonn, Jan. 27,.2018)

"An impressive experience ... terrific." "The audience becomes part of the production. ... wacky ... (Kathrin Albrecht, KÖLNCAMPUS Radio, KulturImpuls / Frührausch, 23.01.2018)

"Everyone who wants to enter the room must wear a mask and pull a hood over his head. They come in different colors and fabrics, the hoods go from top to shoulder and have two holes in it for the eyes, nothing else. ... the effects, however, are amazing. The factors that are subliminally triggering interest, sympathy and antipathy, the face and facial expressions, have disappeared. What remains are the forms, bodies with their presence in the space - and an abrupt anonymity.

In "GHOST TRIO B - corps multiples" danced by Fa-Hsuan Chen, Martina De Dominicis, Álvaro Esteban, Daniel Morales / András Déri, Werner Nigg and Susanne Schneider, Rafaële Giovanola actually turns the audience into theatrical "ghosts", extra dancers or mobile room sculptures. There is no seating and room dividers, in the form of black curtains, are blocking the view of parts of the stage.  Everybody who wanted to experience something in the “Theater im Ballsaal” had to move around in the room, turning him into a participant. ... Rafaële Giovanola has succeeded in creating a visually sophisticated, stringently developed choreography, that was brought to the stage by the "Cocoon" dancers with their own unique intensity. The conclusion: Worth seeing as a dance piece, recommended as a theatrical experience. " (Jürgen Bieler, Bonner Rundschau, Jan. 29, 2018)

"All attendees are wearing over their everyday clothes these strange textile masks, which stick out on the sides like cat ears. The anonymity is perfect, all are equal among equals, completely new possibilities open up. Along with the mask we are gaining scope. Everyone is visible, but nobody is recognizable. (...) It's very clever what Rafaele Giovanola and Rainald Endraß came up with in their new production. No one can identify the six dancers of the CocoonDance ensemble until individual bodies start to move. With the title "Ghost Trio B - corps multiples", the ensemble sets the direction for the choreography in which the bodies dance passionately, but largely avoiding body contact.(...) Touch is just hinted, as if it only exists from memory. Because ghosts are after shapes without bodies, memories that stayed with us, that live on, but have lost their materiality. This way the gesture becomes the tool of the narrative, and what it proclaims is the miracle that leaves us stunned when we watch how male and female bodies in dance just seem to be made for each other. (...) After playing with the mirrors in "Orfeo", the Cocooners are now taking the next step, with the use of the mask, in creating an experience of closeness that shows us how memory inscribes itself into the body and releases itself again in a way that no word can replace. (Thomas Linden, CHOICES, 22.01.2018)

Closing the gap between spectators and actors, liberating art spaces from their stffness, breaking down conventional perspectives and removing memories from time - these are just a few of the effects of the experimental dance performance "Ghost Trio B - corps multiples" achieved by the Bonn-based ensemble "CocoonDance" last weekend at the Orangerie. (Michael Schardt, Kölnische Rundschau, January 1st, 2019)