In “erSCHÖPFUNG”, which premiered at Theaterdiscounter TD Berlin 27-30 January 2022, Janne Gregor asked a host of professionals—from a boxer and beatboxer to a Krump artist and contemporary dancer—to push themselves to and, ultimately, beyond the limits of exhaustion, only to find…that they just kept on going.
I was keen on the concept long before I saw the show
a piece about exhaustion
Erschöpfung, they call it in German
only the title of the show, “erSCHÖPFUNG”, places the emphasis on the latter two syllables
as if to stress that within the very etymology of the word exhaustion lies, at least in German the word for
creation, Schöpfung
and this, I guess, is what Janne Gregor’s show is really all about
that the state of exhaustion is a seat, or is it ‘seed’, for creation
that the condition of extreme mental or physical tiredness
of feeling fatigued
downright depleted
utterly spent
is in fact the foundation for invention, if not innovation
that only when we push ourselves to the very edge of our energy
to the brink of our bodies
indeed, within the limits of our life
do we find in ourselves the strength to push forward, that little bit further
to keep on going
to Keep Calm and Carry On
because, well, let’s face it
we can be dog-tired, bone-tired, and yet still not tired of life
we can be worn-out, burnt-out, and yet not quite going out
we can be all-in, done-in, and yet somehow still just in
because even when we’re dead beat, dead on our feet, we’re still standing
propped up by that propensity they call ‘human perseverance’
or else ‘grit’, as it is otherwise known
that great leveller of life
of existence
of being
of being human
of being human and breathing
breathing what feels like our last breath
only to find that it’s our
there at the tipping point
in the space between
our last breath out
and our first breath in
on the threshold between
an exhale
and
inhale
at the turn of the breath
the breath-turn
or ‘Atemwende’
as the poet Paul Celan called it
is a moment
a moment composed of no more than a split second
and yet a moment of complete timelessness
a moment of sheer spaciousness
of consciousness
when we are perhaps more alive than we have ever been
or, at least, more attuned to life than we have ever been
aware
and listening
listening deeply
listening deeply to the silence
to the deep silence after the din
or, to the ‘silence after the storm’, as Gregor herself describes it
to the
shh
—
–
—
this is the beginning she is talking about
the beginning of something
something that we thought was the end
a birth not necessarily after, but rather at, the time of death
indeed, a sudden miraculous re-birth
for they may be taking their bow, but we are still clapping
they may be walking off stage, but we are still spilling
spilling out into the streets
and onto the U-Bahn
where a crowd of people are dancing
dancing to music blaring on a boombox
dancing to drown out their yawning
since it’s Damir’s birthday, after all
and they’ve come all the way from Moldova
all the way from Moldova to show him a good time
to keep the show going
going on in Berlin, where
when we exit the U-Bahn
we meet a steady stream of night cyclists climbing a hill
one pedal at a time, puffing and panting
every one in 10 of them hauling a trailer pulsating with portable speakers
although the last of them is struggling
struggling to push forward that little bit further
despite the music willing her on
willing her on as she strides alongside, rather than endlessly peddling, her bike
crawling along at a snail’s pace and yet nevertheless pace-by-pace
breath-by-breath
until
she’s at the top of this hill and standing
standing still for a split moment of a second and listening
listening to the silence after the struggle
to the silence after the
shh
—
–
—
then
before I know it, she’s back
back on her bike and peddling
and I’m stood there
applauding
still applauding the fact that
however much Gregor’s show felt more like a workshop than a fully formed piece
her performers sketching out, rather than tweaking, some semblance of a choreography
mapping the beginnings, rather than the end, of something they’re working on
it nevertheless spoke to everything we’re ever really doing
keeping calm and carrying on, keeping on going
finding, from moment to moment
the Schöpfung in the “erSCHÖPFUNG”
a concept I’m still keen on
keen to see more on
and now certainly see more of
long after, and with thanks to, the show
“erSCHÖPFUNG” by Janne Gregor (Premiere 27 January 2022 at the Theaterdiscounter TD Berlin). By and with: Yara Atrisha Traore, Charlotte Noack, Tamar Grosz, Veronika Nowag-Jones. Concept, choreography: Janne Gregor. Live Music: Daniel “Mando” Mandolini. Dramaturgical support: Heike Albrecht. Stage, costumes: Johanna Schraut. Lighting design: Annegret Schalke.
