Unrest
Performance
by
Sergiu Matis
In the frame of FEMINIST FUTURES FESTIVAL
You can find a trailer for the performance ↪ here.
You can find an interview with the choreographer ↪ here.
An intertwining of ancient Sumerian, Greek and Roman epics keeps the protagonists of UNREST entangled in a restless search for answers to the turbulence, upheaval and state of emergency that overshadow the twenty-first century. Haunted and occupied by these myths of antiquity – in which landscapes, animals and female bodies are dominated by “heroic” men in their quest for the meaning of life and immortality – the performers won’t chant the old gods, or the new; nor will they glorify the heroes of early civilisations. Instead, they sift through layers of archaeological remains and dive into vast seas of fragmented and compromised data, in order to recall and recite end-of-times predictions, the oldest surviving written stories, and some of the first records of cataclysms, destruction of nature and social unrest.
Millennia-old verses are viewed through an eco-feminist lens and deciphered into gestures and dance. Relics become flesh and bone, giving rise to a corporeal transcription which aims to reflect upon the foundations of Western thought. UNREST brings back old demons that help us face our growing fears of an uncertain future. It raises questions about which pasts shape the present, and resists and revolts against the dominant narratives of deep history.
The sources of the text excerpts can be found at the bottom of the page.
Accessibility
This performance is a site-specific work and takes place in a former distillery, on the grounds of the Monopol-Areal in Berlin Reinickendorf. The performance space is large and windowless, with high stone walls. The building is not wheelchair accessible and can only be entered via a narrow staircase. The performance space is also difficult to access for people with other physical limitations and walking aids due to the narrow staircase and uneven floor. The rooms in the Monopol are not heated. We therefore recommend that you dress accordingly. During the performance it can get loud and strobe lights are used. Juan Harcha is available to answer questions about accessibility: harcha@tanzfabrik-berlin.de I 030-200 592 70.
You can find an interview with the choreographer ↪ here.
An intertwining of ancient Sumerian, Greek and Roman epics keeps the protagonists of UNREST entangled in a restless search for answers to the turbulence, upheaval and state of emergency that overshadow the twenty-first century. Haunted and occupied by these myths of antiquity – in which landscapes, animals and female bodies are dominated by “heroic” men in their quest for the meaning of life and immortality – the performers won’t chant the old gods, or the new; nor will they glorify the heroes of early civilisations. Instead, they sift through layers of archaeological remains and dive into vast seas of fragmented and compromised data, in order to recall and recite end-of-times predictions, the oldest surviving written stories, and some of the first records of cataclysms, destruction of nature and social unrest.
Millennia-old verses are viewed through an eco-feminist lens and deciphered into gestures and dance. Relics become flesh and bone, giving rise to a corporeal transcription which aims to reflect upon the foundations of Western thought. UNREST brings back old demons that help us face our growing fears of an uncertain future. It raises questions about which pasts shape the present, and resists and revolts against the dominant narratives of deep history.
The sources of the text excerpts can be found at the bottom of the page.
Accessibility
This performance is a site-specific work and takes place in a former distillery, on the grounds of the Monopol-Areal in Berlin Reinickendorf. The performance space is large and windowless, with high stone walls. The building is not wheelchair accessible and can only be entered via a narrow staircase. The performance space is also difficult to access for people with other physical limitations and walking aids due to the narrow staircase and uneven floor. The rooms in the Monopol are not heated. We therefore recommend that you dress accordingly. During the performance it can get loud and strobe lights are used. Juan Harcha is available to answer questions about accessibility: harcha@tanzfabrik-berlin.de I 030-200 592 70.
Sergiu Matis
Sergiu Matis (he/him) is a Romanian choreographer living in Berlin since 2008. He has created dance performances such as «Neverendings» (2017), «Hopeless.» (2019), «Extinction Room» (2019), «UNREST» (2021), «DRANG» (2022) and «Blazing Worlds» (2023). His work has been presented at festivals throughout Europe. Matis' dance practice can be understood as a tireless search through physical and digitalised archives. His performances provoke intense experiences that break with expectations and strive towards a new understanding of dance.
Duration: 120 minutes
Tickets: pay what you can (10€ / 15€ / 20€ / 25€)
The rooms in the Monopol are not heated. We therefore recommend that you dress accordingly.
Tickets: pay what you can (10€ / 15€ / 20€ / 25€)
The rooms in the Monopol are not heated. We therefore recommend that you dress accordingly.
Concept, Choreography: Sergiu Matis | by and with: Lisa Densem, Manon Parent, Maria Walser, Martin Hansen, Moo Kim | Dramaturgy: Mila Pavićević | Music: AGF (Antye Greie), Manon Parent, Emma Juliard | Instruments built by: Emma Juliard | Stage: Dan Lancea | Assistance stage design: Julian Krempf | Costumes: Philip Ingman | Light: Emma Juliard | Technical direction, sound: Andrea Parolin | Internship in dramaturgy: Vida Zelić | Production: Anna Chwialkowska | Distributing producer: Danila - Freitag, Agentur für performative Künste
A Sergiu Matis production | Supported by the Wiederaufnahmeförderung der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa | Co-produced by apap - Feminist Futures, co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and Radialsystem | Supported by Bureau Ritter/TANZPAKT RECONNECT, which is funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR initiative.
↪ FURTHER BIOGRAPHIES
Lisa Densem is a performer and choreographer from New Zealand who has been working in Berlin since 1999. She was part of the company Sasha Waltz & Guests for many years, and also worked with the choreographers Laurent Chétouane, Hanna Hegenscheidt, Jana Unmüssig, Roni Katz and Sergiu Matis amongst others.
A Sergiu Matis production | Supported by the Wiederaufnahmeförderung der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa | Co-produced by apap - Feminist Futures, co-financed by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and Radialsystem | Supported by Bureau Ritter/TANZPAKT RECONNECT, which is funded by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR initiative.
↪ FURTHER BIOGRAPHIES
Lisa Densem is a performer and choreographer from New Zealand who has been working in Berlin since 1999. She was part of the company Sasha Waltz & Guests for many years, and also worked with the choreographers Laurent Chétouane, Hanna Hegenscheidt, Jana Unmüssig, Roni Katz and Sergiu Matis amongst others.
Manon Parent is a classically trained violinist, singer, composer, contemporary dancer and choreographer based in Berlin. She graduated from the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) in 2009 in contemporary dance, and in 2010 obtained a diploma for her classical violin studies. In 2011 she joined the Ballet Junior of Geneva, and in 2012 she moved to New York on a Fulbright scholarship to study Body Mind Centering.
Maria Walser received her education at the Heinz Bosl Foundation in Munich and the Palucca Schule Dresden. She began her career at the Tanztheater Nürnberg and Tanztheater in Oldenburg. Since 2011 she has been working as a freelance dancer, choreographer and actress. She has a long collaboration with Sergiu Matis. Further works were created with Heinrich Horwitz, the Costa Compagnie, the Helmis, Herbert Fritsch, and Prinzip Gonzo, among others. Since 2017 she increasingly develops her own works at the interface of dance and theater.
Martin Hansen (AUS/DE) is a Berlin-based choreographer and artist working in performative media, within both theatre and gallery contexts. Throughout their body of work, they seek to activate and unfold queer temporalities around the dancing body and the economies of power that sustain the theatre. In their practice, archives in the form of extant photography, film, video and GIF collections are used to critically explore memory and time, with ghosts recurring as generative figures and structures. Martin was a Danceweb scholar in 2013 and was named Germany’s Dancer of the Year by the magazine “tanz” in 2012.
Moo Kim began his dancing career as a street dancer in Korea. After moving to NYC, he began his training in ballet and modern dance at The Ailey School, and soon he began working as a contemporary dancer. He has been based in Berlin since 2011 and currently collaborating with Company Mouvoir/Stephanie Thiersch, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Sergiu Matis, and Jefta van Dinther.
↪ TEXT EXCERPTS FROM:
Hesiod, and Hesiod. Theogony ; and, Works and Days. Translated by Catherine Schlegel and Henry Weinfield, University of Michigan Press, 2006.
Hesiod. Theogony. web.archive.org/web/20200814034731/msu.edu/~tyrrell/theogon.pdf.
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Caroline Alexander, Vintage, 2015.
Homerus. The Odyssey. Translated by Emily Wilson, W.W. Norton & Company, 2018.
Kovacs, Maureen Gallery, translator. The Epics of Gilgamesh. Electronic Edition by Wolf Carnahan, 1998.
Ovid, and A C Kline. Metamorphoses. Open Source Translation, 2000.
Ovid. Metamorphoses. Translated by Charles Martin and Emily R. Wilson, W. W. Norton & Company, 2021.
Sappho, and Anne Carson. If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho. The Folio Society, 2019.
