A lyrical fantasy about the history of evolution sets our closeness to the animal and plant world in vibration and frees seeing and thinking from anthropocentrism.
It's alive. It's breathing. It's moving. Muffled, like in water. Is it animal? Plant? Human?
Organic, anyway, and most peculiar. It intertwines, surges, contracts, stretches, crawls, prances, rolls. Legs like feelers, hulls without heads, moving sculpture, archaic poses and always surprising moments of breathtaking harmony of forms and movements.
An underwater fantasy of disconcerting, sometimes unsettling beauty is the new body illusion theatre of the editta braun company. Supported by Thierry Zaboitzeff's masterfully atmosphere-creating compositions between distorted piano sounds, meditative bubbling and hammering beats, three dancers let the viewer dive into a world of gentle waves that is both primeval and futuristic at the same time. Do the water creatures originate from a genetic laboratory or are they pioneers of a new evolutionary process that will repopulate our planet after the demise of the species Homo sapiens? This time without the right of the strongest and competition, without the right of the strongest to eat and be eaten. Beyond good and evil, in a time or world before or after this distinction, this organism is pure life that lives, breathes, moves. Until the end.
Hydráos occidental version
Premiere: 24. Jänner 2024
Stadttheater Gießen, Deutschland
Hydráos oriental version
premiere under the title Fanghoumé:
8 February 2019
Toubab Dialaw, Senegal, École des Sables
dance from 2023 on:
Sonia Borkowicz, Weng Teng Choi-Buttinger, Simona Štangová
composition: Thierry Zaboitzeff
fragments from piano pieces by Beethoven, Schumann and Debussy
light design: Thomas Hinterberger
dramaturgy: Gerda Poschmann-Reichenau
photos: Leo Fellinger, Editta Braun
dance, creation original cast:
Anna Maria Müller, Martyna Lorenc, Sonia Borkowicz
Photos: Leo Fellinger, Editta Braun, Bettina Frenzel, Richard Kirchner
choreography, artistic direction, stage:
Editta Braun
length: 47 minutes
funded by Austrian Ministry of Culture, City of Salzburg, Region of Salzburg
Press reviews
"It's strange, it's fantastic, and in some places it's frightening. But fear gives way to curiosity about the next creature, which immerses us in a delightful stringing together of aesthetic moments, listening in amazement to the masterful sounds of Thierry Zaboitzeff, who succeeds in setting the colours green and blue to such an extent that you can't get enough of them. “ (Leo Fellinger in “Nachlese”, 19.1.20)
"An impressive study of life, of growing and resisting, of failure and new beginnings. An evolutionary story in just 47 minutes (...) An extraordinary evening. At the end a long and enthusiastic applause." (Markus Honervogt, ovb online.de, 22.01.2020)
"Dressed is the new naked ...In the dance scene, nudity on stage has long been the norm. Braun swims against the current again: In Hydráos the dancers wear full body suits." (Clemens Panagl, Salzburger Nachrichten, 17 January 2020)
And the audience said:
"Rarely beautiful" "Fascinating, meditative" "Charming and very special" "Wonderful dancers"
Hydráos, part of the "Luvos" series
Emerging from the artists' collective "Vorgänge", founded by Editta Braun and Beda Percht in 1982, e b c continues to develop its extraordinary, sensational and early in Paris awarded form of movement theatre (Lufus, 1985) until today in its Luvos series with six pieces so far. In exploring this particular aesthetic of an all-female body theatre, which was accompanied by the creation of a veritable Luvos ensemble of dancers specialised in this repertoire of movements, the company goes far beyond the boundaries of conventional contemporary dance and also dance theatre.
In February 2019, Editta Braun returned with three dancers from e b c to Fanghoumé, a village in Senegal, where more than thirty years ago, at the invitation of Germaine Acogny, the grande dame of African dance, the body theatre Lufus was created. The work developed there is the raw material for the new production Hydráos.
Political dimensions of the abstract
"Editta Braun's plays are always significant in terms of content and on the pulse of the times; they deal with the social abysses as well as the qualities that make us human beings in general: Love, fear, jealousy, loneliness, happiness and longing and much more. Beautifully moving bodies in beautiful pictures are not her thing. This has long since ceased to be enough for Editta Braun. She is one who can tell stories with bodies and movements, sometimes she even succeeds with non-movements". (Leo Fellinger)
In each of our cells we carry with our DNA the protocol of our phylogeny, so to speak. As an embryo in the womb, we go through phases that relate to the history of evolution. So does the suffering of plants and animals hurt us physically? What is it that creates a resonance in us? Is everything really one? The piece invites us to search for new ways of perception, to free thinking and seeing a little bit and thus to deviate from an anthropocentric world view that is in the process of destroying the foundations of all life on this planet.
Photo by Leo Fellinger
Hydráos
Photo by Editta Braun
Photo by Leo Fellinger
Photo by Leo Fellinger
Photo by Richard Kirchner
Sonia Borkowicz - Tanz
* 1993 in Polen. BA Tanz & Pädagogik in Anton Bruckner Universität Linz. Engagements bei Isabelle Schad, Jianan Qu,Yumiko Yoshioka, Editta Braun. Gründungsmitglied des "Collective B". Kulturmanagementtätigkeit bei Body/Sound/Space und Tanzhafen Festival (Linz/AT). Performt mit e b c in: 4only, instant Aphaia, instant Kaliska, Close Up 2.0, Fanghoumé, Hydráos.
Weng-Teng Choi-Buttinger - Tanz
* 1992 in Macao, Diplom in klassischem Ballett an der Hong Kong Academy, tanzte u.a. in Schwanensee, Les Sylphides. Mehrere Preise, auch für eigene Choreographien, u.a. in Macau, Taipeh und Edinburgh. BA an der ABPU Linz. Verheiratet in Österreich, Mutter von zwei Kindern.Performt mit e b c in: Hydráos, Proximity, ATCHA !
Simona Štangová - Tanz
*1993 in der Slowakei, BA in Tanz und Pädagogik an der Anton Bruckner Universität Linz. Tanzausbildung am Konservatorium J.L. Bellu in Banská Bystrica. Lebt seit 2014 in Linz, wo sie Performances aufführt, andere KünstlerInnen unterstützt und an ihren choreografischen Arbeiten arbeitet. Seit 2017 Zusammenarbeit mit Voland Székely (Perkussion). Für ihre Arbeit hat Simona Europa und Mittelamerika durchquert, und ihre Reise geht weiter.. Performt mit e b c in: Hydráos
Thierry Zaboitzeff - Komposition
* 1953 in Nordfrankreich, Mitbegründer, Komponist und stilprägender Protagonist der Avantgarde-Rock-Formation ART ZOYD, Welttourneen. Gründet 1999 "Zaboitzeff & Crew". Freischaffender Komponist und Musiker, kreiert neben eigenen Projekten (zum Beispiel der Komposition für die Klangwolke Linz auch für Film, Events, Schauspiel, Tanz). Veröffentlichung von 28 Alben. www.zaboitzeff.org
Editta Braun - Choreographie, künstlerische Leitung
* 1958, Studium (Germanistik, Sportwissenschaft), Tanz- und Schauspielausbildung in New York und Paris. Gründung des Performancekollektivs Vorgänge, 1989 der editta braun company Salzburg. Jährliche Kreationen, weltweit auf Tour, internat. Kooperationen. Seit 1996 enge Zusammenarbeit mit Thierry Zaboitzeff (Musik, Komposition). Lehrtätigkeit u.a. in Linz, Salzburg und Wien, Internationaler Preis für Kunst und Kultur der Stadt Salzburg 2014, Grofler Kunstpreis des Landes Salzburg 2017.
Thomas Hinterberger - Lichtdesign
* 1959 in Linz, Regisseur und Lichtdesigner, arbeitet mit verschiedenen Ensembles (editta braun company, Taka Tuka-Theater, Stifterhaus Linz, Dramos Teatras Kaunas). Erhält 2004 den Anerkennungspreis für Theater des Landes Oberösterreich.
Occidental version
Except for thongs, naked dancers' bodies in combination with an extremely fine-tuned, dark lighting design make us forget that we are dealing with human bodies in Hydráos.
Oriental version
This was originally created for guest performances in Senegal, Egypt and Moldova. Green full-body suits reinforce the abstraction and contrast with the lyrical musical elements from the classical canon.
Also suitable for small stages
Hydraos proves to be a piece that manages with limited technical means and is therefore not dependent on classical dance stages. It can be adapted to different venues, which in turn offers the opportunity to address an audience and reach people for whom the doors of high culture are not open for various reasons.
However, the prerequisites are: black back curtain, darkness and quiet, frontal audience with a good view of the floor (either stage at 1.20 m or well rising audience stand, min. 30 cm step height), good PA.