Tanzquartier Wien

How does it feel to have no home, no four walls of your own? What does it do to me if I have to become dependent on others – friends, acquaintances – or even have to enter into partnerships of convenience to have a roof over my head? How can I retain my human dignity, my self-determination, if I am dependent on the help of others?

In her most recent production, GAP, choreographer Doris Uhlich tackled these questions with a great deal of empathy and sensitivity and, together with the six protagonists who entrusted her with their stories, created a graceful, moving performance on the subject of homelessness, which was celebrated by the audience.

Doris Uhlich likes to take on new challenges. She is interested in unconventional biographies and has the courage to deal with uncomfortable subjects and give them a stage. She has the gift of presenting the stories of people who have been pushed to the margins of society in an unpretentious and empathetic way. In the process, the performers, who also happen to be those affected, use body language, sound, transparent, inflatable stage objects – cuboids, cones, cylinders reminiscent of houses, rooms and landscapes – and their voices.

The idea for this performance goes back to a TQW audiencing project called Halle G wie Gudrun, which aroused great interest in the dance community a year ago. On six afternoons, people from Augustin, Obdach Forum and integration wien, who were interested in movement, met with Doris Uhlich and DJ Boris Kopeinig to go on a journey of discovery, which culminated in a workshop showing in Hall G.

But how had this collaboration, this encounter with so very different people come about in the first place? A simple appeal or a benevolent invitation by email is often not enough to motivate people, for whom cultural participation is not par for the course, to engage and take part in such an experiment. In projects of this kind it is vital that the interest shown is genuine and sincere. And perseverance is required.

Tanzquartier Wien has been cultivating partnerships with selected social institutions for many years, and it’s wonderful to know that the Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur campaign contributed to this with the Kultur-Transfair series of projects initiated in 2009. They served as the first point of contact with Obdach Forum and integration wien, which in turn led to collaborations that still continue today and form the basis to translate the well-intended desire for more inclusion into action at all levels. But such processes require time, human as well as financial resources and, above all, openness and great passion. It is thanks to committed staff members such as Christina Gillinger and Theresa Rauter that Tanzquartier Wien opened itself up to new social fields and has since intensified its collaboration with welfare organisations.

“I am transparent.” “Do you see me or don’t you see me?” Homelessness – a fate that many of us don’t take notice of? With great sensitivity, Doris Uhlich has succeeded in shedding light on the problem and giving a voice to those affected.

Monika Wagner studied cultural and social anthropology. She worked in marketing, communication and ticket sales at Schauspielhaus Wien from 2001 to 2007. She has been the managing director of Aktion Hunger auf Kunst und Kultur since 2007.