Ja!Ja!Ja!
Christian Glaus 2012
“Melancholy and often smile-provoking, the work surfs across soft waves.”
“The dancers race across the stage, only to return to themselves or their counterparts. Intimate sequences follow passages of untamed urges to move”
Ja!Ja!Ja! explores the creative act itself, the “yes” when body, mind, and heart are moving in a refined state of awareness and mystery, in a newly discovered universe. This is a dance theater work with dance professionals of various ages and their individual and collective life experiences. Eight people – eight worlds: what lies hidden in the geologic layers of the memory of their bodies and their minds? And what emerges as they embark on a journey into the not-yet-known – what changes occur in themselves and in those who watch them? A broad movement vocabulary from subtle simplicity to explosive wildness, from quiet alone-ness to complicated partnering entanglements, reflects deep-seated characteristics and passions. The audience gains new insights about the creative process – and about themselves. No one knows ahead of time what the next year, the next hour, the next meeting with someone will bring – so why not surrender fearlessly to the next moment and say “Yes!” to life, to growth, to constant change, to being in motion.
Choreographed and Directed by • Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig
Created with and Performed by • Andrea Beugger, Tanja Büchel, Nelly Bütikofer, Alberto Franceschini, Kilian Haselbeck, Angela Rabaglio, Angela Stöcklin, Cecilia Wretemark
Original Music by • Pauchi Sasaki
Video Performers • Rut Ackermann, Jeanette Engler, Kurt Fröhlich, Marianne Forster, Esther Maria Häusler, Fumi Matsuda, Evelyn Rigotti, Marco Santi
Video Design by • Patrik Widrig
Costume Design by • Bettina Rüesch
Lighting Design by • Ariel Benjamin
Premiere • Lokremise, St. Gallen, Switzerland, August 2012
Tour Highlights • Tanzhaus Zürich • Stadttheater Schaffhausen • Tanzraum Herisau • Phönix Theater, Steckborn • Theater am Kirchplatz, Schaan, Principality of Liechtenstein
Funding • TanzPlan Ost, Switzerland • UMD School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies
“Convincing, intelligent and daring.”