As part of the evening’s Resist Resignation by the collective collapsetofraction, the pieces Revolt and Ohnmacht (Powerlessness), which address the repeated efforts in the fight against social injustice, were performed on 21 and 22 March 2026 at Theatre Pool Berlin.
We are standing outside in three groups facing each other. Tick, tock, tick, tock… the rhythmic background ticking sets an undertone, there’s something in the air, something urgent, the clock is ticking. One after another, three dancers emerge from the three audience groups into the center. Their movements include jumps, throws, fists thumping against flat palms, carrying and dragging each other. I see upheaval, but not chaos. There is something pressing moving the dancers in their solo sequences, which skillfully transition into choreographic unison. I observe the strenuousness of it all, intensified by the now audible breath of the performers. And yet they remain tough. The exertion alone doesn’t cause them to give up. At the end of the short piece, protest signs are hoisted in the air and strewed on the floor. I only manage to catch a glimpse of the many different topics: “Eat the rich”, “Cutbacks are short-term thinking”, “FCK NZS”…
The second part of the evening takes place in the theater space, but also not in a traditional sense. Here, too, the audience is invited to enjoy the show on stage from different perspectives. The mechanical ticking from the last performance strikes up once again. Five dancers (Calvin Bernauer, Clara Nicola Blaß, Sophie Geisler, Marlene Kahl, and Paula Pröbrock) walk, run, to the beat of the establishment. They appear to be searching, but purposeful. They move independent of one another, but still seem to be connected. One person makes a visible effort to break free of the established system, but is held tight and dragged back by another person. The others remain unaffected by the struggle.
Then, short audio sequences recount stories of police brutality, rage, limited courses of action, and systematic injustice. Blackout.
What follows is a dynamic interlude. I recognize movements from the first performance. Fists land on palms, jumps and tossing movements are executed. Gripping solos end in group choreographies. Individual dancers land on the floor again and again. I feel the exhaustion in the space.
Still, they manage to help each other over and over. By lifting up and carrying one another after falling down together. Until it’s no longer possible to support – endure – and one person upstage falls. They also suffer together, sharing the pain, which is carried from person to person, lifted up, shoved, erected, and taken along, in a gentle and caring manner, which is both touching and captivating. Perhaps because it is precisely these moments that I often miss in everyday life.
Calm sequences transform into dynamic ones that are equally compelling in their expressiveness. Even when all the dancers make their own decisions as individuals, they act as a part of the greater whole. Ultimately they are “together in this” and have to “choose their options wisely” so as not to get discouraged – resist resignation.
English Translation by Melissa Maldonado
Resist Resignation by Kollektiv collapsetofraction has been presented on 21 and 22 March 2026 at Theatre Pool Berlin.