PRODUCTION
The mirror with its many facets is one of the central artistic design elements of the project's productions.
The image of the mirror has been an integral part of European literature since antiquity. Its symbolism has undergone many changes and interpretations in the course of European history. Just think of the motif of the Doppelgänger, self-encounter, self-knowledge, fractured identity, reflection, vanity, lust, prudence, truth, mirror as gateway and passage into another world, just to name a few.
In times of the internet, reflections of one's own click behaviour play an increasingly important role (echo bubbles etc.)
FACE T(W)O- Basic ideas of staging
So what happens when we humans create a different world for ourselves?
A better one?
A freer one?
But better for whom and free for whom?
Do we still decide for ourselves?
Do we choose our own bubble or are we assigned to a bubble via cookies and other tracking methods?
The term metaverse first appeared in Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash" 20 years ago. In 2022, the metaverse exists and has become one of the most controversial and fascinating topics of our time. A hype around this metaverse can be observed. Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta. Gamers believe that games like Roblox, Second Life, Fortnite and Minecraft are examples that the metaverse has long existed. Others believe that we still need years to enter this new era of the internet.
Will technologies like 5G, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, the cloud and Big Data eventually merge into a metaverse?
So will there be an alternative digital world to our analogue world? To what degree does it already exist?
The metaverse promises freedom and a better world that is safer than our mundane analogue lives.
It promises connection.
Don't we all want to be in contact with others?
The pandemic has just shown what can be possible digitally?
But do we still decide for ourselves who we want to be in contact with?
Do we choose our own bubble or are we assigned to a bubble via cookies and other tracking methods?
And wouldn't it be much easier to just be in the digital, clean and beautiful world of the metaverse instead of dealing with war and climate catastrophes?
What is happening here in the analogue as we move through the digital spaces playing or working?
Thomas Assheuer wrote an article on "When Man Plays God" in the feature section of DIE ZEIT in May this year.
Fascinating how the hubris carries the drive to the new and at the same time the foreboding of destruction and fall:
"A humanity that does not exist like this would have to do what it actually cannot - it would have to act cooperatively on the largest possible scale, because when the water is up to everyone's neck, it is too late."
So to use the digital world and creatively shape it, to network and cooperate instead of consuming and becoming numbed by the flood of information?
That was the basis on which the dramaturgy of the piece was developed in collaboration with the dancers. They all go to the metaverse for different reasons. They encounter new and familiar things there. Old ways of behaving will not suddenly disappear just because one enters another space. Even if one's own avatar seems so much better than the analogue existence. The confrontation with emotions that are also felt in the digital world leads to different decisions. Some leave the metaverse, others stay.
And wouldn't that be the real goal, the freedom to decide ?
To decide for oneself, to act in a self-determined way ?
For our production we have chosen three main themes:
Hubris, Social Coercion and Escapism.
PPP Dance
Dance is THE universal language that underlies our project and that connects the 100 dancers deeply in different ways. We understand dance as a language of movement that goes beyond individual dance styles. Dance is physical expression, exchange and resonance, as an individual or as a group.
Our dancers come not only from different countries and cultural backgrounds, but also from very different dance backgrounds. We have consciously chosen this diversity and use it as a stylistic device. We want to show individual movement languages and invite the dancers in the rehearsal processes as well as on stage to find their own expression and to go beyond what they are used to.
Our two choreographers, Janis Putnins and Kien Trinh, have different backgrounds themselves and thus create something completely new by drawing inspiration from each other.
Not only the mixing of their own movement language, but also the creation with and by means of the unique stage set, a fragmented view from above, are challenge and development for the choreographers and the dancers.
Choreographies and scenic ideas of the choreographers on the one hand and participatory creation on the other, result in the diversity and inclusion that reflects not only our dancers and artistic team, but also our theatre and production principles: Breaking well-worn patterns and making space for the current.
FACE T(W)O Music
"Virtual? Analogue? Real? And: Beethoven! Thoughts and questions.
The music we consume - increasingly online, but fortunately also more and more on vinyl or even cassette - is virtual in so many aspects: So-called "virtual instruments" are reproductions of real instruments, string, wind, percussion and keyboard instruments, created down to the smallest detail, even down to the noise.
They are now practically indistinguishable from recordings of real/analogue instruments played by real musicians; which is also due to the fact that real musicians are involved in the creation process.
So are these sounds analogue or virtual? Where is the border? Is there a border at all? What then does real or genuine mean?
"A recording of a Beethoven symphony - that's still analogue music!", you might think. But is that true? The sound waves of the orchestra are captured with many microphones, mixed together in the mixing console and processed. Even that is only an image of reality. Then, possibly from different takes, a valid version is cut together. This means that the version we hear never took place in this chronological order! And finally, the result is digitised - converted into ones and zeros, pressed onto a CD, converted back by end devices of more or less good quality and made audible again via loudspeakers. Possibly via a small computer loudspeaker. What is more real, more analogue or more real than music with virtual instruments?
Technology allows me to create new realities by being creative with found, invented virtual instruments: The sound of a foghorn can become the bass foundation of a music. A noise recording from London is deformed into a rhythm. And finally even: a Toscanini recording of Beethoven's 7th Symphony can be technically processed in such a way that new rhythms emerge, even that it sounds with new harmonies. Analogue sounds, creativity and technology are thus mixed together to create moods, emotions, music.
And the hissing and crackling of such a nearly 100-year-old time document arouse nostalgic feelings in us. But are the hissing and crackling really real? Or have I added them, i.e. generated them virtually, to create a mood?" - Tobias Schwab (composer)
FACE T(W)O PROJECTION
The challenge was always to think on two levels. How does the stage look in the digital world and how does it look as a two-dimensional projection in our analogue world. We decided to use voxels as texture and structure for all projections.
These are the framework for the digital three-dimensional view in an app for the production, which is to be created by the time of the tour to the twin cities, and at the same time the visual basis for the video projections. The theme of VR - virtual reality - technology strongly influences our visual perception, which pretends to see something but to feel and experience it tactilely. The stage design is intended to create a similar perception through the different angles and perspectives. The perception of space is challenged by the analogue mirroring of the stage action.
"Having a moving image under my feet is already unusual, interacting with its movement and being physically affected by the images even more. During the piece, the projection evolves, transforms and creates different worlds under my feet. It shapes the laws of gravity and the environment in which I move. I feel safe because I am standing on an island and have a stable ground under my feet. Then I am hurled into space as my island shatters and explodes. As I surrender in space and float around, I am able to hold on to little pieces that cross my path. Where will they lead me? What will happen next?
Certainly I know the line of the piece, but this dialogue with the images around me gives me a real sense of its effect on me. I react to what is happening to me and that shapes my intention to move. It is a natural reaction to external influences that I cannot control. There is no escape and I am fully involved. In some scenes I actively look at the images and react to them, for example when I enter the big stage I follow the growing line on the floor and make my way to my island. Or in the scene 'Dreamland' a ray of light appears in front of me and invites me to move on it. In these moments I react to what I see, but in other scenes the choreography doesn't focus on us observing the visual, but we move as smaller elements in a bigger picture.
Here I know the scenario around me, but my awareness is more in the connection with the other dancers and the dance itself." - Cosima Dudel (dancer)
PRODUCTION
The mirror with its many facets is one of the central artistic design elements of the project's productions.
The image of the mirror has been an integral part of European literature since antiquity. Its symbolism has undergone many changes and interpretations in the course of European history. Just think of the motif of the Doppelgänger, self-encounter, self-knowledge, fractured identity, reflection, vanity, lust, prudence, truth, mirror as gateway and passage into another world, just to name a few.
In times of the internet, reflections of one's own click behaviour play an increasingly important role (echo bubbles etc.)
PPP- Basic ideas of staging
So what happens when we humans create a different world for ourselves?
A better one?
A freer one?
But better for whom and free for whom?
Do we still decide for ourselves?
Do we choose our own bubble or are we assigned to a bubble via cookies and other tracking methods?
The term metaverse first appeared in Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash" 20 years ago. In 2022, the metaverse exists and has become one of the most controversial and fascinating topics of our time. A hype around this metaverse can be observed. Mark Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta. Gamers believe that games like Roblox, Second Life, Fortnite and Minecraft are examples that the metaverse has long existed. Others believe that we still need years to enter this new era of the internet.
Will technologies like 5G, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, the cloud and Big Data eventually merge into a metaverse? So will there be an alternative digital world to our analogue world? To what degree does it already exist?
The metaverse promises freedom and a better world that is safer than our mundane analogue lives.
It promises connection.
Don't we all want to be in contact with others?
The pandemic has just shown what can be possible digitally?
But do we still decide for ourselves who we want to be in contact with?
Do we choose our own bubble or are we assigned to a bubble via cookies and other tracking methods?
And wouldn't it be much easier to just be in the digital, clean and beautiful world of the metaverse instead of dealing with war and climate catastrophes?
What is happening here in the analogue as we move through the digital spaces playing or working?
Thomas Assheuer wrote an article on "When Man Plays God" in the feature section of DIE ZEIT in May this year.
Fascinating how the hubris carries the drive to the new and at the same time the foreboding of destruction and fall:
"A humanity that does not exist like this would have to do what it actually cannot - it would have to act cooperatively on the largest possible scale, because when the water is up to everyone's neck, it is too late."
So to use the digital world and creatively shape it, to network and cooperate instead of consuming and becoming numbed by the flood of information?
That was the basis on which the dramaturgy of the piece was developed in collaboration with the dancers. They all go to the metaverse for different reasons. They encounter new and familiar things there. Old ways of behaving will not suddenly disappear just because one enters another space. Even if one's own avatar seems so much better than the analogue existence. The confrontation with emotions that are also felt in the digital world leads to different decisions. Some leave the metaverse, others stay.
And wouldn't that be the real goal, the freedom to decide ? To decide for oneself, to act in a self-determined way ? For our production we have chosen three main themes:
Hubris, Social Coercion and Escapism.
PPP Dance
Dance is THE universal language that underlies our project and that connects the 100 dancers deeply in different ways. We understand dance as a language of movement that goes beyond individual dance styles. Dance is physical expression, exchange and resonance, as an individual or as a group.
Our dancers come not only from different countries and cultural backgrounds, but also from very different dance backgrounds. We have consciously chosen this diversity and use it as a stylistic device. We want to show individual movement languages and invite the dancers in the rehearsal processes as well as on stage to find their own expression and to go beyond what they are used to.
Our two choreographers, Janis Putnins and Kien Trinh, have different backgrounds themselves and thus create something completely new by drawing inspiration from each other.
Not only the mixing of their own movement language, but also the creation with and by means of the unique stage set, a fragmented view from above, are challenge and development for the choreographers and the dancers.
Choreographies and scenic ideas of the choreographers on the one hand and participatory creation on the other, result in the diversity and inclusion that reflects not only our dancers and artistic team, but also our theatre and production principles: Breaking well-worn patterns and making space for the current.
PPP Music
"Virtual? Analogue? Real? And: Beethoven! Thoughts and questions.The music we consume - increasingly online, but fortunately also more and more on vinyl or even cassette - is virtual in so many aspects: So-called "virtual instruments" are reproductions of real instruments, string, wind, percussion and keyboard instruments, created down to the smallest detail, even down to the noise.
They are now practically indistinguishable from recordings of real/analogue instruments played by real musicians; which is also due to the fact that real musicians are involved in the creation process.
So are these sounds analogue or virtual? Where is the border? Is there a border at all? What then does real or genuine mean?
"A recording of a Beethoven symphony - that's still analogue music!", you might think. But is that true? The sound waves of the orchestra are captured with many microphones, mixed together in the mixing console and processed. Even that is only an image of reality. Then, possibly from different takes, a valid version is cut together. This means that the version we hear never took place in this chronological order! And finally, the result is digitised - converted into ones and zeros, pressed onto a CD, converted back by end devices of more or less good quality and made audible again via loudspeakers. Possibly via a small computer loudspeaker. What is more real, more analogue or more real than music with virtual instruments?
Technology allows me to create new realities by being creative with found, invented virtual instruments: The sound of a foghorn can become the bass foundation of a music. A noise recording from London is deformed into a rhythm. And finally even: a Toscanini recording of Beethoven's 7th Symphony can be technically processed in such a way that new rhythms emerge, even that it sounds with new harmonies. Analogue sounds, creativity and technology are thus mixed together to create moods, emotions, music.
And the hissing and crackling of such a nearly 100-year-old time document arouse nostalgic feelings in us. But are the hissing and crackling really real? Or have I added them, i.e. generated them virtually, to create a mood?" - Tobias Schwab (composer)
PPP PROJECTION
Projection is the connecting medium between the app and the stage set. The challenge was always to think on two levels. How does the stage look in the digital world and how does it look as a projection two-dimensionally on our analogue world. We decided to use voxels as texture and structure for all projections. These are the framework for the digital three-dimensional view in the app and at the same time the visual basis for the video projections. The theme of VR – virtuel reality – technology strongly influences our visual perception, which pretends to see something but to feel and experience it tactilely. The stage design is intended to create a similar perception through the different angles and perspectives. Spatial perception is questioned by the analogue mirroring of the stage action.
“Having a moving image under my feet is unusual already, interacting with its movement and being physically influenced by the visuals even more. During the piece the projection developes, transforms and creates diverse worlds under my feet. It shapes the laws of gravity and the environment I am moving in. I feel safe, standing on an island having a stable ground under my feet. Further I get thrown out in space as my island crashes and explodes. While surrendering in space and floating around, I can hold on to little pieces passing my way. Where does it guide me? What will happen next? For sure I know the line of the piece but having this dialogue with the visuals around me, evokes a true feeling of its impact on me. I react on what is happening to me which shapes my intention to move. It is a natural respond to outer influences which can not be controlled by me. There is no escape and I am fully involved. In a few scenes I actively look on the images and react on them, for instant while entering the bigger stage I follow the growing line on the floor, creating a path to my island. Or in the scene ‚Dreamland’ a light beam appears in front of me and invites me to move on it. In those moments I respond to what I see, however, in other scenes the choreography is not concentrated on us observing the visuals but we are moving as smaller elements in a bigger picture. Here I know the scenario around me but my awareness lays more in the connection with the other dancers and the dance itself.” – Cosima Dudel (Dancer)
