A young man of Color points with two outstretched fingers in front of him and opens his mouth slightly. His short hair is dyed gold, a small horn is stuck to the forehead and his earlobe is stretched. In front of him are plastic ferns and flowers.

Performance / Dance

Tianzhuo Chen / Siko Setyanto

Ocean Cage

Tickets:

24 Euro (conc. 12 Euro)

Info

Strobe lights and fog are used during the performance. There are passages with loud music. During the performance the performer will fry fish and smoke, so there will be a strong odour. There is no traditional seating in the auditorium, the audience can move freely around the room.

Past dates

Archive

Saturday

11/16/24

8:00 PM

120 Min.

Interview with Tianzhuo Chen at pw-magazine.com

The call “Baleo! Baleo!” is heard on the coast of the Indonesian village of Lamalera when the fishermen have spotted a whale. For the villagers, the centuries-old cry means that the ancestors will show themselves with the appearance of the whale and bestow their blessing on the village. “Ocean Cage” is inspired by the stories of the Lamalera inhabitants and focuses on questions of solidarity, economic coexistence and disappearing ecosystems. Through dance, film and music, director and visual artist Tianzhuo Chen creates an immersive and visually powerful maelstrom in which the dancer Siko Setyanto becomes the central protagonist. Together with the musicians Kadapat and Nova Ruth, a mix is created that oscillates between belief in progress and tradition, spirituality and technology.

The audience sits on the floor in front of a wide screen. It depicts a gathering of people carrying a figure of a saint. A surtitle reads: Songs to celebrate a successful season.

A performer squats in front of a pile of fruit such as papayas, pineapples and bananas. He wears a garment made of flowers and leaves around his waist. An audience member sits opposite him and holds one of the fruits in their hands.

A screen takes up a large part of the picture. A body of water can be seen on it. At the bottom left is a large rock from which a person is pointing a long bamboo stick at the water. A traditionally dressed person poses in front of the canvas.

A performer stands on a beach-like installation with his arms half-raised. The audience stands and sits around him, gazing at him attentively. Above them hangs a huge grey whale with its mouth open, 10-15 meters long.

Many members of the audience are standing or sitting in a room. Everything is bathed in blue light. A performer stands in the middle of the picture, looking ahead with an intense gaze. He grins or shows his teeth.

An audience member squats next to a performer with their eyes closed. The person looks relaxed. The performer is also squatting and pointing at something that is not visible in the picture. He is wearing a thick shell necklace around his neck and is bare-

A performer holds a long bamboo stick horizontally in front of his chest. The audience sits and stands around him. In the background is a large screen with a person's face on it. They are wearing bright contact lenses and are bathed in orange light.

Press photos Tianzhuo Chen

With: Tianzhuo Chen, Siko Setyanto

Director Tianzhuo Chen Choreographie & Performance Siko Setyanto Music Kadapat, Nova Ruth Costume Chenting Yu Make-Up Una Ryu Textile design Diane Esnault Sound design Martin Ortiz Technical Director Francisca Marques Technical Production Paul Mede Assistant & Stage management Diane Esnault Production & Management partner in crime

Production partner in crime and Tianzhuo Chen Co-production HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Arsenic Lausanne, Kyoto Experiment, Kampnagel Hamburg, tanzhaus NRW Funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds Supported by Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte

Tianzhuo Chen / Siko Setyanto

Ocean Cage

Past dates

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