2 and 3 October 2022, 6 pm - 8 pm Zönotéka | Hobrechtstraße 54, 12047 Berlin | free admission
The experimental performance project Out of the Box, organized by MMpraxis and CAA Berlin, provides a platform for Berlin-based emerging choreographers to adapt existing stage works to a gallery space. After having been selected through an open call, the second part of Out of the Box will present works by choreographers Robert Ssempijja and Jo Kolski. Zönotéka, the gallery hosting this iteration of the project, will be open to the artists for a week of rehearsals before presenting their work to the public. In addition, the artists are invited to receive support from a mentor of their choice.
Robert Ssempijja will share his solo You judge, which starts with a story about the community in Kampala, Uganda, where he grew up and tells of the expectations of its members towards him. As the title suggests, the piece is about the act of judging – and that it might tell us more about ourselves, than the person we judge. The work addresses how we are all constantly searching for our place in the world: we try to adapt, to understand our different roles and we struggle for acceptance.
Ssempijja has invited theater maker Gert-Jan Stam as a mentor. Together they are writing a text, which will accompany the performance.
Jo Kolski will work on an adaptation of his dance-theater piece sp( ! )n, that explores the tension between the zen practice of the “controlled accident” and the western hybris of utilitarianism in the context of the amusement industry. In this solo variation titled "accident contrôlé: variation on rotation", Kolski focuses on the interaction of the body with a useless machine: a rusty pantograph. Combining a fascination for geometrical patterns, industrial civilization and purposelessness, the softness of shape and the roughness of material collide to create a poetic landscape.
Jo invited scholar and dramaturge Jonas Rutgeerts as a mentor, with whom he is working on a text that will accompany his performance.
Choreography, objects, performance: Jo Kolski // Sound: Antuantu // Dramaturgy and choreographic assistant: Bernardo de Almeida // Interaction design and visuals: Bariş Pekcagliyan
Publication to accident contrôlé: variation on rotation
About the choreographers
Robert Ssempijja is a Ugandan contemporary artist and dance researcher whose practice is marked by the era of post-colonialism and decolonization. He is curious about the body as an archive of information that is activated by movement. Robert is searching for “a regenerative art practice” which moves away from exploitative relationships. Through dance, he bridges the distorted past and the digital present. He works regularly with Christoph Winkler (Germany), Nora Chipaumire (New York/Zimbabwe), Qudus Onikeku (Nigeria) and Patrick Acogny (France/Senegal).
Jo Kolski is a choreographer, performer, dance educator and producer. He is interested in the friction between contemporary dance and various forms of art and knowledge, from New Circus to scientific research. Jo studied theater in France (Paris, Lyon), cultural management & curation in the US (New York), dance in Germany (Berlin/Leipzig), where he was also a dancer, among others for Alessio Trevisani, the Leipziger Tanztheater, Sebastian Weber, Maeshelle West-Davis. In 2022 he graduated from Master Choreography at the HZT Berlin with scholarships awarded by Deutschlandstipendium and DAAD.
About the organizers
The MMpraxis curatorial platform organizes exhibitions and events at the intersection of performing and visual arts with a focus on choreography, time- based media, and performance art.
The Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin (CAA) is a private platform for the promotion of contemporary culture in Berlin. It supports young artists from the fields of visual arts, theater, music and dance both financially and in practical matters.
Zönotéka is a symbiotic exhibition and production site for innovative encounters. Focusing on an interdisciplinary understanding of art, its collaborative programs endeavor to creatively address scientific issues as well as to foster an inventive micro-community by offering individual working places.
Organized by MMpraxis and CAA Berlin in collaboration with Zönotéka. Supported by the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK - STEPPING OUT, funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media within the framework of the initiative NEUSTART KULTUR.
