Memories and entanglements

The world premiere of the dance production “remains” on 12 March was the last event to take place in Berlin’s radialsystem before the shutdown due to the Corona pandemic. Created by multimedia artist Andrew Schneider with dancers of the Sasha Waltz & Guests ensemble, it captured and presented key facets of life – both melancholic and comical.

Located by the River Spree in Berlin, the radialysystem has been the home of Sasha Waltz & Guests since 2006. From here, the dance company that Waltz founded 25 years ago takes its acclaimed productions all over the world.

Choreographer-director Sasha Waltz usually develops the ensemble’s projects herself, with the help of various teams of artists. But for this production, she gave the helm to a guest director for the first time: Andrew Schneider is a performer, author and director, who works with interactive, electronic media. Based in New York, he has been making stage productions, videos and interactive electronic artworks and installations since 2003. His basic concept for remains is outlined in the programme: “’remains’ – bodies in space and time. We are present together here and now. What traces will we leave behind us?” This question is then explored on stage by nine dancers of the Sasha Waltz ensemble, who were also involved in the process of developing the piece’s means of expression: “I made dozens of drawings and explained how we could make certain scenes with light, others with sounds and others again with their bodies. We then developed some scenarios in which all that could take place. We generated enough material, put it together and drew connections between these sketches. Then it was like an archaeological process, linking up the scenes,” Schneider explained in an interview.

Researching connections

Before the performance started, a somewhat ominous announcement was made. We were warned there would be loud noises, stroboscopic effects, and long periods of darkness. And sure enough, the performance started in darkness, with mist swirling eerily through the space. Light flashed across the stage and into our faces to the accompaniment of deep, throbbing bass sounds. From within the darkness, a bright figure gradually emerged and started to walk, machine-like, across the stage, was then duplicated and accompanied by the sound of waves flowing through the space – a vague and poetic memory of human existence, from far away.

Then a sudden cut – and the stage reappears, empty. Schneider designed the set, choreography, and technical equipment all himself. Something like a chariot-and-pole system emerges, with wooden panels at the sides, and closed off at the back by movable walls, which later take on a life of their own. The ground-level dancefloor is white, illuminated from above and the side. A moment for the space – a key co-performer – to take a bow. The continuing sounds envelop the space and the audience, on terraced seating, leading directly to the stage. This is the setting in which the action now unfolds, described in the programme as: “research into the connections between physical quantum entanglement and human involvement, between the visible and the invisible”.

Classic means – new uses

“remains” presents scenes of everyday life, little stories, and thoughts, weaving their various facets into an overarching whole. The stage plays an active role. In one scene, the back walls start moving and wander over the stage in their own ‘choreography’. A flash of lighting, a dancer appears in a glittering dress – a day of celebration? An enigmatic voice that fills the space discloses what she is feeling inside, but we only understand scraps of what is said.

Solos and frozen images of individual dancers appear against the movable walls. The stroboscopic effects sometimes create a humorous, slapstick effect. For instance, when a man walking over the stage appears to be pulled back, and resist, again and again, back and forth – like life itself, a Sisyphus task. Or a couple packing a box, then unpacking it again until the box falls over, accompanied by scraps of conversation and noises: “you have to be more careful, I felt like an idiot, I’ll end up where I came from …”. Recognizable moments from real-life relationships.

Touching scenes are created by individual dancers conveying emotions in slow motion – effort, anger, amazement, fury, and joy – underlined by atmospheric sounds. Gradually all the performers come together and form a tableau vivant, a human sculpture – a speciality of the Sasha Waltz ensemble. From the individual to the whole, they form a unit, which then disintegrates into individual bodies again. They re-converge, forming pools, until individuals re-emerge and tell their own stories via their movements and their interaction with the light and sound. In the end, after the unit has disintegrated, the sculptural figure of a dancer comes to the fore. She stands alone at the front of the stage, the others look around, their arms stretched upwards. The darkness creeps in again, the solo dancer remains at the front; in the background, the others move silently across the stage in grey uniforms. Then darkness, the sound of dogs barking – cut. In the end, we see the stage bright and empty again.

As well as the enthusiasm conveyed by the standing ovations, there is a sense of urgency, as if we are all trying to keep each other’s spirits up in the current situation. It is especially threatening to freelance artists and private arts institutions. Like thousands of others in the arts industry, the people here are facing uncertain futures.