SELECTION OF WORKS
♦
“Elevation” 2021
‘Elevation’ is inspired by concepts from the book, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In the book, Kimmerer draws on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman. She shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve maybe forgotten how to hear their voices. She circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. The ceremonial dance piece takes the concept of nature as a teacher and translates it into movement. ‘Elevation’ additionally explores the dualities of destruction and creation, greed and generosity, despair and restoration- all which are prominent aspects of our human relationship to the natural world. The goal of the piece is to use dance as a tool to move people into more conscious states of gratitude, awareness and care, therefore contributing to life in better reciprocity with nature. ‘Elevation’ premiered in Theater Felina-Areal in March, 2021 as part of the festival, “Tanzt Böse Blumen” and was later selected and performed at the Landesmuseum Stuttgart as part of the festival, “Bühne Frei” in December, 2021.
-Choreography & Concept: Amelia Eisen
-Dancers: Kirill Berezovski & Mike Planz
-Music: Güldeste Mamaç – http://www.guldestemamac.com
-Lights: Georg Gropp
-Camera: Katja Visschers
♦
“Air Castle” 2021
We are the masters of our dreams… ‘Air Castle’ is a safe playground which connects us to who we are when we dream or fantasize. The piece inspires our imaginations to infuse daily life with colorful stories and infinite possibilities. It premiered online via Theater Felina-Areal in March.
“Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.” – Terry Pratchett
– Choreography & Concept: Amelia Eisen
– Dance: Linda Kikaj-https://www.lindakikaj.com
– Music: ‘Amphibian’ by Lisa Morgenstern (used with permission from the artist)
♦
“Project Warrior” 2019/2020/2022
“Project Warrior” delves into the multifaceted experiences of different women. It shows how women are fighters, shows their resilience, shows where they fight to gain a place in society and how their vulnerability becomes their greatest strength. 7 female dancers address individual and collective traumas by connecting to nature and sharing their stories through the combination of movement, language, music and the poetry of the American artist and civil rights activist Maya Angelou (1928-2014). Her life and work were a great inspiration for this work as she gives an essence of trust, strength and healing, which we aim to transfer to this production.“Project Warrior” premiered the 2nd of November 2019 at Theater Felina-Areal in Mannheim, Germany. It returned to the (online) stage in July 2020 as a mini-festival. It is made possible by Private USA Donors, Theater Felina-Areal, Kulturamt Stadt Mannheim, LBBW Bank, Bundesland Baden-Württemberg and Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e.V. aus Mitteln des Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst des Landes Baden-Württemberg.
Duration: 1 hour
Cooperation Partners: Amalie- Beratungsstelle für Frauen in der Prostitution https://www.amalie-mannheim.de, Mädchennotruf https://www.maedchennotruf.de
Dancers: Veronika Kornová – Cardizzaro, Delphina Parenti, Miriam Markl, Jillian Rose, Aynur Memioglu, Cecilia Pontemprimo and Julie Pécard
Choreographic Assistance: Kirill Berezovski
Dramaturgy & Production Assistance: Angela Wendt
Trauma Release Coach: Corinna Natalie Bornhorst – http://soulcouch.net/Vorteile/
Costume Design: Manuela Brandl
Light technician: Georg Gropp
Photography & Graphic Design: Lena Drews
Music: The Chromatics, Nils Frahm, Cliff Martinez, Lisa Morgenstern, IDHAZ
Poem: Maya Angelou’s “On the Pulse of Morning” used by permission of Caged Bird Legacy, LLC
VIEWING OF THE FULL STAGE PRODUCTION AS WELL AS THE PROJECT WARRIOR OUTDOOR DIGITAL COLLAGE ARE AVAILABLE BY REQUEST!
♦
“Operation Unknown” 2019
Operation Unknown.
Part 1. – to be continued…
A performance by: Amelia Eisen, Amy Pender, Kirill Berezovski & Martijn Joling
Created as part of: Freier Tanz im Delta VII Mannheim, Germany
Supported by: Theater Felina-Areal Mannheim
Recorded by: Falk Kästle
Thanks to Sascha Koal and Georg Gropp
Music: Nils Frahm, Neil Young & Delibes: Lakmé
Cover Photo: Günter Krämmer
♦
“Microbiota – a Pandemic performance experiment” 2020
“Winterschlaf” 2018
Created together with Kirill Berezovski and Mike Planz, “Winterschlaf” is an evening-length piece made by 3 choreographers for 3 dancers. It takes a thorough look into our personal and societal relationships to time and life-cycles. “Winterschlaf” was made possible by Kulturamt Stadt Mannheim, LBBW Bank and Theater Felina-Areal in Mannheim, Germany. It premiered the 11th of October, 2018.
Dancers: Rebecca Häusler, Pascal Sangl & Ayesha Katz
Music: Alex Somers, Thom Yorke, Henry Purcell, Antonio Vivaldi, Symmetry, Tobias Lilja
Photo & Video: Falk Kastell
view trailer: https://vimeo.com/289926138
♦
“Chapters of a Memory” 2017
“Chapters of a Memory” is a research on letting go which began in 2014 in San Francisco, California. It has been performed in multiple festivals in Germany as a short solo work.
Choreographed & Danced by: Amelia Eisen
Music: Alt-J
Photo: Hans Traut
view piece: https://vimeo.com/247037655
♦
“Four Ears” 2017
‘As soon as two people notice each other, they interact with each other. They send and receive signals which can be linguistic or physical. The decoding of the signals begins immediately. What does the other person mean? What is he/she trying to tell me?’ – Friedemann Schulz von Thun.-
“Four Ears” is an exploration of human interaction and communication. Friedemann Schulz von Thun’s ‘Four sides-model’ is used as a primary structure for the piece; this model also known as the ‘communication square,’ breaks down our nature of sending and receiving messages into four layers: Factual, Self-Revealing, Relationship and Appeal. By diving into these layers, “Four Ears” is meant to help us understand each other better. It premiered on the 20th of October, 2017 at ‘Feste im Freien’ in Theater Felina-Areal, Mannheim.
Dancers: Shareen DeRyan and Brian McNeal
Music: Floating Points
Photo: Günter Krämmer
View piece: https://vimeo.com/239230250
♦
“Within our Skin” 2016
‘It is our task to never forget what has happened to us, to never shake what our every cell has felt, always finding moments to be still, bathing in what we have made so far, understanding what we are made of and activating the memories residing in our skin.’
“Within Our Skin” premiered in July 2016 at SAFEhouse for the Performing Arts in San Francisco, California USA. It was a guest performance for Slick Babble Dance Company in Berkeley, California and Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet Alumni Showcase in San Francisco.
Dancers: Khala Brannigan, Neta Singer, Shareen DeRyan, Kirill Berezovski
Music: Ayub Ogada, Efterklang
view piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SZ5ixsKBB4
♦
“Residence in the Heart” 2015
Where do you find home?
“Residence in the Heart” was created and premiered in Kibbutz Ga’aton, Israel December, 2015. It celebrates what we call home and our relationship to it.
Dancers: Daniella Eriksson and Kirill Berezovski
Music: Lord Huron
Photo: Uri Nevo
view piece: https://vimeo.com/177171934
♦
“Out of Bounds” 2014
‘Grateful fascination for every rush of your own swelling lungs and lush flooding blood all glistening, glimmering, flooding, falling, falling..- “The Staircase”, by Hilary Brown’
‘”Out of Bounds” is a collaboration between live music and dance. It is an adventure through our potential and how to move beyond our limits. It premiered at San Francisco’s West Wave Dance Festival in September, 2014.
Dancers: Amelia Eisen and Alexandra Kamerling
Music: ‘Holler Tree’ Band from Nevada City, California
view piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh1z3bq8BmE
♦
Amelia Eisen 