Staatsballett Berlin Opening Night for MINUS 16 October 25, 2024

[Sabine0308]

So last Friday I went to Staatsballett Berlin's opening night for "Minus 16", an evening with 2 pieces by Sharon Eyal and Ohad Naharin. First piece was SAABA by Sharon Eyal.

I looked forward to it because I know and love how Eyal's choreography usually  "sucks you in" with the monotonous, yet powerful group movements which often makes me forget space and time. Unfortunately, this piece didn't do it for me. There were impressive scenes, for example where the dancers moved with very small steps, in relevé, upper body and arms tilted backwards and forwards, and it looked as if they were floating across the stage. But altogether, I didn't feel the vibe. I admit it probably has A LOT to with my neighbor and her phone/hair. I will put this in detail in the "audience behaviour" thread. FORTUNATELY she didn't return after the intermission, but it kind of ruined SAABA for me.

There was also the music by Ori Lichtik, a mix of oriental and techno scores, that distracted me. The programme said for this piece, Eyal had a clear vision what to tell (contrary to her other pieces) but I couldn't get what it was until I read the programme afterwards (which I never do before a performance).

The second part of the evening was Minus 16 by Ohad Naharin which was not new to me. I had seen the very impressive and  iconic chair dance from „Echad Mi Yodea“ before, danced by Gauthier Dance Company and also as part of the show "Arise". And of course the entire piece(s) during rehearsals. The spoken words before the chair dance began sent shivers through my body because they so much relate to the current political situation in Israel and Gaza and the entire region. The piece was created in 1999...

The dancers poured their hearts and voices out, but I thought there is room for improvement re synchronicity. But maybe that wasn't intentionally the case.

I also liked the 2 calm parts (following the chair dance), where dancers crossed the stage as a group and then suddenly somebody dropped out of the group, began a solo and introduced themselves/ respectively other biographies of dancers. I thought it was very personal until I noticed (because I had seen the rehearsals) that different casts spoke the same text, so it wasn't that biographic. Especially when 2 people spoke about the same car accident 😉.

When the techno version of "Somewhere over the rainbow" began, dancers left the stage and picked random people to join them. This time I could just sit and watch and it was a lot of fun, although some people just stood there, completely unsure what to do, then tried, whereas others dived immediately into the music and one elder tall guy didn't want to leave the stage at the end. 😁
It's a beautiful idea of the choreographer to really overcome the distance between professional dancers and the audience and to see how much joy dance brings to everyone.

Both pieces got rave applause, the audience cheered and whistled. So far I read mostly very positive reviews from the press. The Premiere Party afterwards also celebrated the title "Company of the year", which Staatsballett Berlin received together with Stuttgart's Ballet. I spoke with some dancers and hope that the company is not forced to make artistic limitations due to financial cuts.

 

Which brings me to the Side note:

right with the beginning of SAABA, we saw a green announcement above the curtain, where you usually see translation of opera lyrics. It said "Berlin is Culture, more info in the foyer". Referring to the planned financial budget cuts looming over Berlin and where the culture scene in Berlin is in danger to loose 10% of their money. Only 2,1% of Berlin's budget are dedicated to the culture sector. Staatsballett's AD Christian Spuck and many other directors have issued a letter and content on social media saying that cuts in the cultural sector would massively damage the city in the long run.

Edited October 27, 2024 by Sabine0308