Editorial January–March 2024
Dear audience, dear artists,
How much influence does classism have on contemporary dance and performance art? This is the issue addressed in the second edition of the TQW Winter School at the beginning of the new year. Class discrimination will be explored over three days from theoretical and practice-oriented perspectives under the title Dance Class.
In the months to come, the TQW programme will be ploughing through layers and sediments: while Netti Nüganen, known from working with Florentina Holzinger, excavates societal transformations inscribed in the earth in the role of an absurd pseudo-archaeologist, Katrin Hornek and Karin Pauer were inspired by a radioactive soil sample from Vienna’s city centre to create a live installation in the iconic main hall of the Secession. In her new solo, Camilla Schielin has used the concept of the fallow period to develop a choreography about the ghostly return of the past, and Jen Rosenblit (dis)locates her philosophical excavation on the crumbling landscapes of elsewhere.
An examination of rituals opens up another thread of topics. Over the course of six weeks, Alexander Gottfarb invites visitors and performers to The Ritual Season in the performance space Der Betrieb to embark on a collective quest for new, secular ceremonies. A shared meal is also considered a community-building ritual – however, food not only connects but also separates, as Julischka Stengele demonstrates in a sensuous performative discourse about taste and class. And Marta Navaridas playfully recalls the customs of our favourite cult, theatre itself, in MANIFESTATIONS.
The TQW programme is as multifaceted as ever in January, February and March. Finally, we would like to draw special attention towards the next edition of LO AND BEHOLD, our series of events dedicated to sound and performance experiments. Additionally, there are two exciting Austrian premieres that you wouldn’t want to miss: Jefta van Dinther’s dance piece REMACHINE and Gisèle Vienne’s EXTRA LIFE, a visually stunning deconstruction of the patriarchal perception regime featuring a star line-up.
We look forward to seeing you!
Bettina Kogler, Artistic Director and Programme
Carolina Nöbauer, Programme