Status: 02/01/2021 5:56 p.m.
The work of a dance ensemble in Corona times is difficult. The dancers of the Braunschweig State Theater try to keep moving anyway.
At most theaters in the north, too, there is artistic silence. On stage anyway. And otherwise too. Most of the ensembles – no matter which branch – are at home in lockdown. But that doesn’t apply to everyone. The dance ensembles are excluded. They have very special requirements for their work. And physical fitness in particular plays a major role. So are the dancers Braunschweig State Theater despite the corona lockdown still in training every day.
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At work: the dancers of the Braunschweig State Theater
-Connected by colorful clothes
Dancers of the dance ensemble of the State Theater Braunschweig rehearsing. They are guided by their choreographer, Gregor Zöllig. They move through the room at a strikingly large distance from one another. The State Theater rented the particularly spacious dance studio for the Corona period. Instead of touching each other, the dancers are connected by colorful clothing during this training session. The ensemble members pull themselves through the room, turning around each other on the stretched panels.
A new language of movement for a new time
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Dance director Gregor Zöllig has fun rehearsing.
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“The situation calls for us artists, or for me as a choreographer, to invent a new language,” says Zöllig and adds: “As what was previously possible – with a lot of contact and with a lot of close togetherness, lifting and working closely together as a group – none of that is possible. ” In these unusual times, dance director Zöllig has to use a completely different vocabulary of movements. For nine months now, he has been designing his choreographies in a completely different movement language than usual. This is challenging, but artistically it also offers an opportunity: “We are now required to find a new expression for our time, that we work well with distance can.”
Dancing – even under difficult conditions
Zöllig and his ensemble are an absolute special case at the Braunschweig State Theater. While everyone else – orchestra, choir, actors, stage workers – have to stay at home, they are allowed to continue their work under strict conditions. For dancer Nils Röhner there is no other way: “My body is like a musical instrument. It has to be constantly in tune and in shape in order to be able to carry out the artistic activity. If you take a whole year out, then the quality is Body no longer there. ”
To prevent this, the ensemble goes to great lengths. Several times a week everyone goes to the corona rapid test, a distance of six meters must be observed for dance movements that are particularly aerosol-generating. The masks stay on during less strenuous exercises – and it is regularly vigorously ventilated. Complicated, but choreographer Gregor Zöllig sees no alternative to this type of training: “This is a high-performance sport. Maintaining the condition, but also playing together in a group – that would all be a problem for us if we didn’t work every day.”
Give courage for better days
Strong muscles, flexible limbs and strong lungs are essential. The artistic content, specifically practicing pieces, but also. Very important for the motivation of the ensemble: Despite the lockdown, the dancers are always ready to go on stage – whenever that will be. And dancer Bettina Bölkow already lists the repertoire: “‘The time is ripe’ is here. We have ‘gray areas’, ‘scars’ are ready. So: That’s why it’s good that we can continue training. If the theaters can reopen, then we have a program. And we can say: Yes, we are ready for you. “
This attitude doesn’t seem to be simply optimism of purpose, but rather reveals real hope for better days. And that is what drives dancer colleague Nao Tokuhashi: It is difficult to maintain motivation. But you know what you’ve produced. And that’s why it’s called: wait. Until then, dance director Zöllig has to keep his ensemble together and continue to motivate them – both artistically and in terms of condition in unusual times. That is “very existential. These are stolen years – especially for a dancer career, which can be very short.”
Further information
At work: the dancers of the Braunschweig State Theater
-Connected by colorful clothes
Dancers of the dance ensemble of the State Theater Braunschweig rehearsing. They are guided by their choreographer, Gregor Zöllig. They move through the room at a strikingly large distance from one another. The State Theater rented the particularly spacious dance studio for the Corona period. Instead of touching each other, the dancers are connected by colorful clothing during this training session. The ensemble members pull themselves through the room, turning around each other on the stretched panels.
A new language of movement for a new time
–
Dance director Gregor Zöllig has fun rehearsing.
–
“The situation calls for us artists, or for me as a choreographer, to invent a new language,” says Zöllig and adds: “As what was previously possible – with a lot of contact and with a lot of close togetherness, lifting and working closely together as a group – none of that is possible. ” In these unusual times, dance director Zöllig has to use a completely different vocabulary of movements. For nine months now, he has been designing his choreographies in a completely different movement language than usual. This is challenging, but artistically it also offers an opportunity: “We are now required to find a new expression for our time, that we work well with distance can.”
Dancing – even under difficult conditions
Zöllig and his ensemble are an absolute special case at the Braunschweig State Theater. While everyone else – orchestra, choir, actors, stage workers – have to stay at home, they are allowed to continue their work under strict conditions. For dancer Nils Röhner there is no other way: “My body is like a musical instrument. It has to be constantly in tune and in shape in order to be able to carry out the artistic activity. If you take a whole year out, then the quality is Body no longer there. ”
To prevent this, the ensemble goes to great lengths. Several times a week everyone goes to the corona rapid test, a distance of six meters must be observed for dance movements that are particularly aerosol-generating. The masks stay on during less strenuous exercises – and it is regularly vigorously ventilated. Complicated, but choreographer Gregor Zöllig sees no alternative to this type of training: “This is a high-performance sport. Maintaining the condition, but also playing together in a group – that would all be a problem for us if we didn’t work every day.”
Give courage for better days
Strong muscles, flexible limbs and strong lungs are essential. The artistic content, specifically practicing pieces, but also. Very important for the motivation of the ensemble: Despite the lockdown, the dancers are always ready to go on stage – whenever that will be. And dancer Bettina Bölkow already lists the repertoire: “‘The time is ripe’ is here. We have ‘gray areas’, ‘scars’ are ready. So: That’s why it’s good that we can continue training. If the theaters can reopen, then we have a program. And we can say: Yes, we are ready for you. “
This attitude doesn’t seem to be simply optimism of purpose, but rather reveals real hope for better days. And that is what drives dancer colleague Nao Tokuhashi: It is difficult to maintain motivation. But you know what you’ve produced. And that’s why it’s called: wait. Until then, dance director Zöllig has to keep his ensemble together and continue to motivate them – both artistically and in terms of condition in unusual times. That is “very existential. These are stolen years – especially for a dancer career, which can be very short.”
Further information
