Outsider

When a school class switches from front-of-class teaching to group work, the classroom is redecorated. The tables and chairs, previously oriented towards the teacher, are rearranged; small piles and knots form, and after a few hours, the chaotic mess has transformed into a new order. Sitting in a strange place disrupts the order, which is difficult to bear. Humans seem to have an inherent desire for clear structures, and when these structures are violated, they require a certain degree of tolerance to deal with them. This tolerance means tolerating outsiders, underdogs.

Alan Lucien Øyen explores these mechanisms extensively in his first work for tanzmainz. The ensemble repeatedly drags chairs onto the stage (Åsmund Færavaag) of the Mainz State Theater, arranges them, sits down, and mirrors ...