Parvathi Ramanathan – tanzschreiber

Light may not always possess or produce heat

2. June 2023, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

“Moving in Concert” by choreographer Mette Ingvartsen premiered in Germany with the opening evening of the Potsdamer Tanztage 2023. The performance that is read here as a formal study of the interaction of light and movement inspires a short choreography handbook.

Resist. Resist. Resist.

29. April 2023, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

The trio “Weaver” choreographed by Anne-Mareike Hess, attempts different weaves of connections of formations for female togetherness. The performance is shown at DOCK 11 from 27 to 30 April 2023.

This too was at Sinai

27. March 2023, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

What happens when a monk, a priest and a rabbi walk into a bar? Scratch that…you probably know that one already.

Okay, what happens when a Jewish performer walks up to their grandmother’s cupboard of antiques?

Where do you think this was going? Is there space for this joke in a dance review today? In Germany? And who can make such a joke?

There is, in fact, no joke to make. But I take this chance to tread the nuance that art allows to reclaim what may be said. Performer David Bloom does it too, with “nigunim”. Premiered on 23 March 2023 at Uferstudios, the solo was part of Tanzfabrik’s ‘Narratives and Transgressions’ curatorial fold.

To the Girl on Tram M4

4. January 2023, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

Parvathi Ramanathan writes a letter to a girl on the tram after watching “Her Noise” by the Company Christoph Winkler which premiered on 29 December 2022 at Radialsystem.

How about One Last Game?

11. November 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

“No Gambling” a performance by Simone Aughterlony and Julia Häusermann, was shown at HAU2 as part of the NO LIMITS – Disability and Performing Arts Festival Berlin (9-19 November 2022). Through an assemblage of moving installations, the performance explores ideas around hope, desire, and addiction.

The ‘I’ of Cyclops

23. September 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

“Cyclops”, conceptualized and directed by Zé de Paiva, shows us incomplete abundant fleeting images through his viewfinder. We see images of ourselves and those of de Paiva and co-performer Nasheeka Nedsreal in their avatars as cyborg-ed Cyclops. Images direct and challenge the narrative in this performance that was shown at Ballhaus Naunynstraße.

Aural Rorschach

16. September 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

In “Die Hörposaune”, Werner Hirsch (alias Antonia Baehr) and Jule Flierl drive audiences into a sonic exploration of bodies, objects, and textures. Without saying a single word in a recognisable language, they communicate a scholastic enterprise that is both serious and humorous at the same time. The performance premiered at the 1929-built silent-cinema theatre, Theater im Delphi in Berlin-Weißensee.

To Dare to Create

22. August 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

“No. 60”, choreographed by Pichet Klunchun, sensually and systematically moves the edges of Thai Khon dance. By unpacking the traditional form and tapping into instincts from the head, heart, and gut, it democratises it and sets it free for new creative impulses. The work was shown at HAU2 as part of Tanz Im August 2022.

Singing Soil to the Sky

15. August 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

Shown at Tanz Im August 2022, “Vástádus eana – The answer is land” by Elle Sofe Sara powerfully embellishes on the primacy of community and coexistence with nature through the body, voice, and certainly, through a more sustainable way of being.

The Art of Staying With the Subtle

4. August 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

I sit here with my finger poised on the keyboard, wondering how to begin writing about “H_SPACE_H” by Isabel Lewis and Sissel Tolaas with Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop and Ethan Braun. When words fail to come forth, I bury my face in the denim jeans I had worn the day of this durational performance (30 July 2022) near E-WERK Luckenwalde. An amalgamation of the many smells from the multi-site performative intervention still seem to linger in the fabric. My tongue is tickled by the memory of them, and questions tumble out.

A Circle in a Square Place

20. June 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

Set up by Galerie Wedding – Raum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, as part of Movement Research ACROSS, the “Flexible Colour Circle”, an inhabitable outdoor stage, offered a space for performances and encounters over two extended weekends in June. “Dabke Community Dancing” by Medhat Aldaabal and Adel Sabawi, presented by Sasha Waltz & Guests and Berlin Mondiale, was part of the curation at this site.

This Gleich and that Gleich are not the same

2. June 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

People of all genders are equal. Everyone is equal. EQUAL! EEEEEKWALLLL! Isn’t it clear by now? “EQUALITY!”, a duet by Compagnie Lindh & Weingartner is made for young audiences and brings to the stage the age-old discussion on equal-ness among genders. Presented at the opening of PURPLE – 6. Internationales Tanzfestival für junges Publikum at Uferstudios on 31 May 2022, the performance insists on its point in no less than all-caps followed by a firm fist of an exclamation mark.

Just Another Voice in Berlin: Humble Grass vs. Noisy Landscapes

27. May 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

The lush green grass of Berlin’s Körnerpark gives their two bits on the performance “Embodying Landscapes” that took place at the park as part of the Performing Arts Festival Berlin on 25 May 2022.

Scrolling unto Freedom

10. April 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

Team Volume & guests present a re-mix of dreams about freedom and love in “Degrees of Freedom”, which premiered at DOCK 11 from 7 to 10 April 2022.

Towards a Broader Openness

17. March 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

TANZPLATTFORM 2022 >>> Moritz Ostruschnajak’s “TANZANWEISUNGEN (It won’t be like this forever)” was the opening performance of Tanzplattform Deutschland 2022, hosted in Berlin for the first time since its launch 28 years ago. The Deutsches Theater served as the venue for this occasion, showing the work on 16 and 17 March 2022.

Black Burdens and Black Crowns

9. March 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

“blackmilk:trompoppies” by tiran and “JEZEBEL” by Cherish Menzo, both part of Queer Darlings 3 at Sophiensæle (1 to 13 March 2022), seize archetypal figures and modern icons to unpack their origins, reorder the narrative on gender, sexuality and race.

ELEGY TO A HEAP OF CLOTHES HE WAS

19. February 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Language:
EN

As well as being a physical exploration and an excavation of the self, “Euphoria” presents Hoyoung Im’s sharp work as a video artist and embodied composer of sound. The performance premiered at DOCK 11 from 17 to 20 February, 2022.

Reveries at the Cusp

19. January 2022, Parvathi Ramanathan

Languages:
DE
and
EN

Showing as part of the online programme of Tanztage Berlin 2022, Layton Lachman and Samuel Hertz’s sonically-charged “DOOM (The Movie)” creates a world of catastrophe and creation. Parvathi Ramanathan steps into this world in a daze of delirious illness and imagination.