For 20 years now, Renate Graziadei and Arthur Stäldi have been using their studio laborgras on Paul-Lincke-Ufer for their joint movement research. Here, in this concentrated and almost contemplative atmosphere of a quiet Kreuzberg backyard, they create the concepts for performances that explore dance as an independent art form and language in a wide variety of collaborations. But the studio stage is much more than the home base of the laborgras collective. The studio has established itself internationally through its residency, performance and research platforms by building a meaningful, vital and socially-conscious space for contemporary dance. There is an active commitment to playing with different forms of presentation, to training and discussion that makes the studio a forum where artists, their work and processes, but also encounters between artists and with the public, are a focal point.

In a series of 13 short choreographies, laborgras explores the vast emotional states of interpersonal constellations and questioning how relationships become what they are. States of devotion, steadfastness and courtship, or quite simply melting into one, are poetically staged. What is a relationship, really? Which gestures connect us, what attitudes inspire togetherness, how do we set boundaries and when can this disconnect become aggressive? When is partnership sustainable, dangerous, or erotically charged? How do you establish harmony, what makes it stable and what makes it dissolve?

Sometimes quiet and tender, other times loud and demanding, alone or together in a duo, the two dancers (Renate Graziadei and Sergey Zhukov) unfold the interplay between partnership and individuality. They move individually or as a pair throughout the space, lending the necessary continuity for a cohesive, complete performance. And so spectators are free to connect the different ambiences in their minds, creating relationships between scenes: Many gestures or positions come from everyday life, and audiences can identify and empathize with them.

Through its intimate structural situation, the studio itself becomes part of the overall performance: the boundary between audience and performer is lifted: The dancers are not bound to the stage, individual episodes arise in different spots throughout the entire performance space. Spectators can follow them and create their own perspective on what’s happening, deciding for themselves whether to stay nearby or further away.

Concept/Artistic Direction: laborgras
Choreography: Renate Graziadei in collaboration with Sergey Zhukov
Performance: Renate Graziadei & Sergey Zhukov
Dramaturgy: Arthur Stäldi
Costume Design: Claudia Janitschek
Lighting Design: Lutz Deppe
Sound Design: Andrea Parolin
Music: Micatone, Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws, TCC Band, Sam Cooke and others
Production: Inge Zysk, Raquel Moreira
Press and communication: k3 berlin
Distribution and communication: Astrid Rostaing

Pictures: Phil Dera
Camera: Walter Bickmann, Videoediting: laborgras