As Easter approached, the 27 Dance Monkeys of Schlesische27 warmly welcomed the vibrant young dancers from Rapsodia, a dance school in Gorzów, Poland, for a week of creative fusion. In a joint project, the aim was to bring together these young protagonists whose genres—contemporary dance and ballroom dance—otherwise offered little opportunity for encounter. The result was a shared performance evening that reflected and connected the vastly different experiences with the art form of dance.

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We drew inspiration from the Titanic, marking the 100th anniversary of its tragic voyage. It served as our setting, a closed universe where theatrical and dance expressions explored the bounds of creativity against the backdrop of societal norms and their sudden unravelings.

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Within the cramped quarters of this ill-fated vessel, we created a melting pot for an electrifying mix of freeform and ballroom dancing, mirroring the ship's diverse social fabric in its final hours.

 

Guiding this artistic voyage were the seasoned duo, Be van Vark and Sven Seeger, steering the choreography and intensive rehearsal week with their expert hands, with me taking the helm for foxtrot and waltz. The doomed performance's stage and costumes emerged from the skilled artisans at Eisenhart Workshops, with Antje Herrmann and Constanze Zimmerman weaving magic into costumes and Kai Ilieff and Michael Felix Langer constructing a stage that captured the essence of our tragic muse.

Click on the image to read about this, as well as other projects, on Bee van Vark's website