Die Nashörner (The Rhinos) is a dance piece by URSina Tossi with integrated artistic audio descriptions. It’s geared towards viewers aged 14 and up and transports a theater text written by Eugène Ionesco in 1959 to the present day. Following its premiere at Theater an der Parkaue on 3 April 2025, there will be additional performances in April and June 2025.
„Geh‘ in die Knie
Und dreh‘ dich nach rechts
Und dreh‘ dich nach links
Klatsch‘ in die HändeUnd tanz‘ den Adolf Hitler
Und tanz‘ den Mussolini
Und jetzt den Jesus Christus
Und jetzt den Jesus ChristusUnd klatsch‘ in die Hände
Und tanz‘ den Kommunismus
Und jetzt den Mussolini
Und jetzt nach rechts
Und jetzt nach links“(English translation:
“Get down on your knees
and turn to the right
and turn to the left
clap your hands
And dance the Adolf Hitler
and dance the Mussolini
and now the Jesus Christ
and now the Jesus Christ
And clap your hands
and dance the communism
and dance the Mussolini
and now to the right
and now to the left”)I enter the room to the beat of the song “Der Mussolini”, released in 1981 by DAF (Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (German-American Friendship)). The six performers (Tenzin Chöney, Elisabeth Heckel, Sakshi Jain, Denis Pöpping, Ilona Raytman, Ingjerd Solheim) are already dancing in a synchronized loop befitting the electronic clangs. They’re clapping their hands and thighs and moving in formation in a vigorous, emphatically heavy lockstep from left to right. Like a cross between line dance, impromptu club choreography, and a military exercise, the dance feels powerful, rousing, and – in combination with the music – unsettling. The camouflage costumes, wide cargo pants, studded belts, metal accents, and neck tattoos starkly emphasize this impression, allowing me to quickly submerge myself in this dystopian, combat-ready world. Elisabeth Heckel steps out of the group to the edge of the stage. “This is not a piece about Nazis. It’s not about fascism. It’s not about normalizing fascism and its murderous consequences.” She recites an anti-manifest written by choreographer URSina Tossi. “We’re mostly concerned about transformation, about what happens in the thick of it, what’s impossible to understand, and what no one can speak of, not even us.”
Powerful and striking from the get-go, the energy does not dissipate. The story, which is based on a play of the same name by Eugène Ionesco, is about a huffing and puffing, destructive rhino that suddenly gallops through a city one day. One by one, more and more townsfolk transform into rhinos until only one person remains.
In URSina Tossi’s version, the first rhino sighting triggers a huge initial shock. “It trampled my cat. We can’t allow this.” The horror quickly turns to preparation for battle: from joint army drills to individual requests to use your body as a weapon to fighting one another. Are we still watching the townsfolk or is this now the rhinos? Are the boundaries clear enough to discern?
Once again we observe transformations to rhinos. There is little resistance from those affected. For a brief moment, they anxiously search for a bump on their foreheads. But then they are absorbed in their role.
“This morning there were seven. Now there are 37.”
“You’re attaching too much importance to this. (…) It will soon be over. (…) Everyone is free. There was nothing to be done. There was nothing we could do.”
They ultimately all transform into rhinos. But they are no longer depicted as huffing and puffing fighting machines. We, the audience, are the rhinos the figures politely join. Only Sakshi Jain remains behind. But nor is she human. More a robot or an AI avatar. “I have to talk to her to convince her. But first I have to learn her language. Or she mine. What is my language? Is it German? What is German?” Is digital the language of the future?
With impressive power and a surprising amount of humor – and the occasional choking on laughter – Die Nashörnertransports the audience to the hard to capture moment that facilitates the normalization of fascism. Bits of current discourse are recognizable. Or are they from discourses five or ten years ago?
“We’re still in the majority. People have to take advantage of this.”
English translation by Melissa Maldonado
Die Nashörner, by URSina Tossi celebrated its premiere on 3 April 2025 at Theater an der Parkaue. More performances will take place in April and June 2025.
