shy-wild
by Ben J. Riepe
Premiere: 17th July 2009, Essen
The Folkwang Tanzstudio was able to engage the Düsseldorf-based choreographer Ben J. Riepe for this production.
Ben J. Riepe's stage worlds are bizarre; his arrangement of scenes is beautiful, wacky, surreal. He likes to walk the borderline between dance and the fine arts, drawing from the repertoires of painting, photography, film and pop culture. His performers' movement language is reduced and formal, taking them through ethereal artificial worlds that he takes to their absurd extremes by confronting them with the mundane and its states of emergency. This creates a field of tension that could burst at a moment's notice, into comedy or drama.
While researching this production with the Folkwang Tanzstudio, Ben J. Riepe explored the visual and intrinsic aesthetics of death, with a particular focus on war. The question of a potential aesthetic value of human cruelty became a leitmotif of the creative process.
From his own company, he has brought along composer Alex Alves Tolkmitt, who wrote a new score for this production, and costume and fashion designer Anna Kleihues.
„Cruelty has a magical allure and Riepe knows how to stage even the most disgusting violence in ways that force the audience to watch in equal horror and fascination.”
(NRZ, 20.07.2009)