i'm not going to the gym well i guess sometimes i am but i stand up in the winter that. makes me consider jam a culture of looking at the stereotype of clay but in years think the future of the country that i now know. needed to be taken from his grandmother they all believe it's all that. i my job join me to meet the generals on the w. post. has liberated contemporary dance by crossing boundaries germany's renowned choreographer is in constant search of new challenges and collaboration is with other artists. for 25 years she's led her company and guests on journeys into the unknown.

even those songs on stage but icon to both that's just the way it is but if i can dance the special projects now and that i'm happy. in the early 1990 s. it's left new york for a newly reunified berlin since then has had one success after the other we sat down with the energetic choreographer to talk about her rise from the french to major opera houses and her next job is color to stick to. director of the berlin state

ballet. performance was used to your company 25 years ago with your hands under it could you ever have imagined the international success you've had since africa. non-scented i noises and after in 1903 after the fall of the berlin wall and shortly after enough occasion the central district of measure was a place of seemingly endless opportunities. we only opened our venue and there's a feeling they are 3 years later and 1996. before that we were like nomads wandering from one industrial space to the next and each time we started up a nice change here as there is in fact life and fun from the outset we toured internationally we toured the us in our 2nd or 3rd year we traveled to india and toured a lot in europe peeling or. so right from the start travelling was part of our

identity it was our aspiration and our concept. of the insult on our also selfish that nestles at us that we wanted to build bridges with our art and take it to different audiences to countries and cultures that also inspire our work. for the we're all in so in that respect our life today isn't all that different than it was 25 years ago. isn't anyone gets. is or. was it's our. safin zillah emitter once hosted meetings of left wing revolutionaries later it was used by the nazis then it was a feeler workshop with its dilapidated charm and checkered history it was the perfect setting for such of arts as breakthrough production.

an offbeat provocative production part of a trilogy on the absurdities of domestic life the company research for months in communist era housing complexes. initially zuch of arts danced along with her ensemble but she was always striving for new forms of expression and cooperation with other artists for her dance alone was never enough. help ask mine that i know. $107.00 i began downs lessons with one teacher i started taking classes from the age of 5 and the teacher i was with the age of 12 had studied under mary whitman so i have a very very deep connection to german expressionist dance kind i just got up but it

didn't really influence my decision to start dancing professionally because at the time i wanted to pursue a career in the visual arts. that's it was only 3 my discovery of post modern dance and contact improvise ation and all of these a consciousness techniques that i developed an interest in studying don't. send. in tickets it's a studio in the life you generally don't produce strictly narrative pieces it's not dance theatre which some critics hold against you. they say your work is to associate ivar serial. are you bothered by such criticism i get is and the critic. cometh out on else because i know to be honest i can't remember reading such reviews and normally i don't read reviews anyway. i see it on their air ferial to mention that as access through association is very important to me and in our communication with the audience. then bus i think that's purely one dimensional way

of saying just one thing and everyone understands the same thing i find that boring . through it. it has to be something that speaks to each individual in a unique way. that touches something deep down and each person in the audience. but it has to be entirely free. of us with downsize that's when the work becomes profound as it does when it touches on the mystery inside you or the money and that doesn't happen if you're simply telling a linear story. let's hear it. first developed one of the most significant productions kerber during her 5 year stint as courtis to director of berlin's shall be in a theater it's an exploration of anatomy that delves into every aspect of the human body. time and again the company conjures images that sear

themselves into the viewer's memory like a nightmare. at the same time vult isn't afraid of venturing into more abstract territory in her piece for hour and she takes dance back to its origins in ceremonial rituals. while her early works were wild her later choreography is feel more crafted for a 3 hour tour she transforms dancers into animalistic creatures and explore social issues like power and helplessness freedom and control. your mother was a gallery astin your father an architect so you may have inherited your talent for strong visuals from the one side but space has also always played a key role in your work it's very central. what do you look for in a space could you imagine staging a production for example at the building site of berlin's new international airport through coffin solution here. you're outpost and think twice all spiled ought to be

asked building sizes certainly intriguing spaces and we've often rehearsed building sites the jewish museum had only just been completed it was still empty while the collection hadn't yet been installed and the boys had usually we perform at that intermediary moment before the space assumes the function it was designed for so before the exhibit moves then spun automatic sizing because it's really a moment that breathes life into a space it's a real integration. by that i became really clear to me without work for balance noiselessly on the heart of the space have this incredible energy that had been abandoned for so long and then undergone 12 years of reconstruction. on the spot so it was intriguing for me to envision what it would become and to awaken at a life of dance past as i know that one does tense others. as will be for example we focused on the cult of the dead in a room that would display the past of queen efforts. the noise museum houses

a large injection collection and that's why i did a lot of research on ancient egypt like you actually. want so it also gives as inspiration not just the building and the architecture as such it's the site in its entirety that shows me how to put a space and motion that all done in the vehicles at the me i am 2013 the company was invited to kolkata then calcutta to cap the year of cultural exchange between india and germany off the production was staged in the courtyard in wings of an old private palace dating from colonial times. such about's collaborated on a project with the indian choreographer padmini each a tool in her ensemble.

i am. that was out of the project in kolkata was very unusual it was an old palace so naturally a different way of telling stories a marriage because the rooms had simply been sealed off and there was this life that had taken place previously as have time it stood still like a fairy tale when everyone's fallen into a deep sleep and time goes on and the pictures on the malls fade to black and dust settles everywhere on to papers on the bed it was really a very interesting experience. the only noises all across the office i recall you calling to a new genre the choreographic opera it incorporates elements of contemporary dance into operatic stage productions but it treats all parts as equals a music the dancers the singers in all i'm bracing art form what appeals to you about working on the stages of major opera houses and institutions. first thing at

that level. for me spazz and then when told of how it was a great experience for me to be able to choreograph a body of people as a whole i and then of course in court. so it's not about the dancers and a choir and some lists anymore but about the group who. becomes an entity and you can't really identify who is doing what all and i extended that idea and began working with orchestras so that they also start moving start dancing so that the orchestra would also become run body once you can achieve an amazing dynamic in a room where sound literally moves. then clung this. in the air i am. 6

many of the world's major opera houses were now open to her and parents tokyo and berlin. she would oversee the entire stage production managing to transform even the unwieldy medium of opera and give it her own signature. you said you often look for female protagonists in opera to medea was one of those how did you deal with her character. she is usually condemned as the barbaric child murderer. in. the production coincided with the case of a mother here in germany who was on trial for murdering her children what approach did you take for the piece medea. it's been this i'm

a citizen of the us bonde think well i think she's a very interesting character but she's also very ambivalent i wanted to take time to think about her intensively without judging conceivable by now just imagine at what point is a woman capable of killing her children what extreme pain or despair do you have to experience to reach that point as a bottom so they can type of whole. i found it very difficult to put myself in that position and direct the production. of course i had to imagine it and be part of it which at times was unbearable. there's heaps of fuel and as a sniff it was really hard to give myself a literate. it's fun does. take place. clients of the. midair is one of the best known characters in greek

mythology she famously helped jason and the argonauts retrieve the golden fleece jason binn married her only to later leave her for another woman the daughter of the king crayon midhir took revenge by killing crayon his daughter and her own 2 children to eat. in this production the children of the shovels and her husband new york in zombies were part of the cast further intensifying the emotions felt by their mother. for the kenosis and for the children i was like playing it was a great experience for them they learned all the songs and the wonderful thing about it is that it is a lot like playing we play dead and then we all get up again. but again and i'm like with your children more often with you during productions and while traveling

you're on tour and the dancers were with you to. get up by it was like one big family for you also for me was it done with a. babysitter and interest i always had babysitters with me. of the but they did spend a lot of time with the dancers during rehearsals for. mid intense and and when they were dancing too they were just part of the cast they didn't get any special supervision oil or no i always tried to have them with me. i never forced them to come by so i always asked if that's what they wanted one but i just wouldn't see enough of the children otherwise because we spent a lot of time working under the theatres and were often out in the evening. out of obviously we've tried to strike a balance. but fortunately both the children love dancing and singing and going to the theatre and playing theatre. so it seems that passion has been

passed on to them. the it is their life after but hardly you invested a lot of time in promoting young talent start you have the children's dance company . parent company you know you've also been involved in dance in schools how important is that to you. this this is. yeah this is. my interest in children stands i actually came with my 1st child last . else it lasted all i got on a workshop at a school and it grew from there and that's what the love i couldn't help busy i found more and more interesting as i realised how important our ancestors particularly for children approaching puberty and then couple interacting with other people's bodies with their own bodies their own self-image stuff because you're very much confronted with yourself unless process because you're working in a group lance if they learn a lot about group dynamics you get

a nice spatial awareness how do i move within a room how do i stand in relation to somebody else i'm at least likely a great help in everyday life it's not that everyone needs to become a dancer it's about learning to live in your own body to feel your body and to feel at home when your body. is. as if the whole thing. that the. last year you yourself dance to. and here at the ready as is tim for the project to her and. do you miss dancing would you like to do it more often again one of the films. anywhere on the i love dancing on stage but i can't do both if i'm choreographing a big piece i can't be on stage myself as well that's just the way it is but if i can dance for special projects now and then i'm happy and. out of work and play

the song one of those special projects superman or listen it offers dancers and artists from various parts of the world scope to interact and explore current political and social issues through art an opportunity for the shovels to explore and improvise to. get them on a stick at the roots as i did you know passing on a growing number of pieces to outside companies including some abroad where your dancers are receive the rehearsals and if there is this an opportunity to release the ensemble to work independently of you align our by the. garden is i yes this is a new branch of my work you could say. i think it's good for experienced dancers to

pass on what i know and that these compositions continue to live on and the younger generation feel it and said but many dancers who pass on what's continue to dance themselves i think it's good to give others the opportunity to be involved but it becomes like a whole new production you think you just passing something on but that's not actually the case. is our county is marginalized i usually do a workshop of the dancers where i go through the entire piece. as it's intended with all the moves so that i know what it's all about i can squeeze in that intense and that's not just that i can't do that a lot but it's exciting to pass something on and watch it take on a new life and to remain because that noise. in the spring of this year the day after the live view in lisbon performs national bounces peace and calm to. the dancer spent 5 weeks with her sing and.

then turned up to add the finishing touches. to of her experience dancers had overseen all the rehearsals. from israel. and cloudy osho others from portugal so it was their job to help the dancers find their own style rather than just copying certain moves suddenly the 2 were working as equals alongside their longstanding boss i think it's working relation of many years and the personal relation also you know so. yeah. i think in that case gives a lot of trust like she gave a responsibility to hand over the piece and she gives a trust and also we have been working with them for 5 weeks so we can actually we know them better than her in this situation so it's a it's a good thing that we still stay. in communication with each other for certain things i mean then something she comes and she wants to bring it from the outside

more her own hall no sensations and smell and to put something on top of what we brought but it's it's a long term collaboration so we are communicating in a very natural way and i truly happy my so i still see things differently sometimes and i pass on the specific details that are important to me. but i know that the dancers i've chosen are very precise and that i can trust them and so far it's worked very well touch wood and there's been no problems it's been i enjoy being able to let go and step back a bit. the piece takes on a life of a time it's not a fixed creation grows and moves away from me that back. when yeah. let's talk about your new production exodus which you did for the 25th anniversary of your dance company. x. that was exodus from the greek both in the sense of departure and escape what led

you to this idea. of. i was big and it was this idea of fleeing from more scaping from something finding our way out that obviously we associated on the one hand with the bible and the exodus of the israel lights from egypt. but when you're in greece for example you see it written in every subway station many clubs and bars have adopted the name exodus. that fascinated me and that's often. on the one hand. you have this idea of a group that's running away their corporate fleet leaving one place and moving somewhere else or when i. see it on this and i other this process that takes place more in the mind. as often coupled with all step out of your body into another dimension and to this technique trance or ecstasy patient

off coming test next half or less gets very much about a group experience it includes going to and past the point of exhaustion with the audience. and so that's like a journey to. a journey that last 2 and a half hours involving captivity then finding a way out and escaping it raises questions such as what we're fleeing from and where to exodus is intense and heavy going and for now at least it will be the last production that sasha about stages with her company. she will remain the official director but she will leave the body as this dame it will continue as a production and performance venue for the company but she now has a new position she'll become the 1st woman to head up the highly traditional berlin state ballet. fighters nandan in 2019 you'll take over as artistic director of the berlin state ballet alongside your highness ermine

are you excited maybe a bit apprehensive. now is there's no cause at all for on the start taking on the state ballet is certainly a major challenge so i've been preparing for it for 2 and a half or nearly 3 years i think. it's a very long process and yes i want to actually stop a job until 2019 common. there were initially huge protests over the decision to appoint a contemporary choreographer to co-direct the state ballet the traditional dancers were not happy but the actual votes had actually worked with the state ballet before writing a solo piece for its former artistic director of la to moloch off to great acclaim . these angry protests have now seen just. one thing is clear taking over the state ballet stash of oxes biggest breakthrough today and a huge challenge. for 10 times that qualify i think it's

a great opportunity for dance in general to explore these extreme positions. booklets books are on the one hand to really preserve classical ballet and the whole history and to stage classical productions that are very high level because one of the un and i don't have a hand to have contemporary choreographies with a contemporary language with all that darius she should least in all her different ways of using the body. again and the creation ensemble that is capable of working with both these extremists. these extreme are it's definitely a fascinating project. the other thing. into some support act of. this riddim gather enough for i'd like to end by asking you what comes to mind when i say. borders. do you have also the challenges we face today yet knowing your reality to be as free as children now again.

our brains. really since learning etiquette i don't know 90 percent or 95 percent of the top class.

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looking now. every week on t.w. . this is d.w. news live from berlin. hong kong war and democracy protesters that belt clear out of demonstrations today that have not been approved this comes in the wake of violence over the last weekend's thousands gather to press for greater rights and government accountability but security officials say those who stray from plans that have.