Shintai to Shintai | THEATER DER WELT

In the organizer's words:

Bodies meet bodies. Movement becomes dance: a choreographic exploration of closeness, community and transformation.

"From body to body" is the translation of the title of this dance production. It is being developed by the Japanese choreographer Yoko Ando from Yokohama, together with the group Tanzende Nachbarn from Chemnitz. This initiative, created as part of the European Capital of Culture Year 2025, brings together people of different ages and histories to dance together. From the outset, the project has promoted intercultural and intergenerational exchange. As part of this dialogue, a collaboration was developed with the senior dance program "Challenge of the Silver" in Kanagawa, which is planned and produced by the Kanagawa Arts Foundation. In this context, dancers from Japan appear in the performance and thus strengthen the artistic exchange between Chemnitz and Kanagawa.

In the piece, people stand together on one stage. Their bodies carry different stories, rhythms and experiences, yet they move in the same space at the same time. What emerges is not a reflection of everyday life, but a precise choreographic encounter of different identities. Yoko Ando, herself also a dancer, develops a concentrated choreographic structure with the Dancing Neighbours that does not explain proximity, attention and physical difference, but makes them visible. A sequence of movements, gazes and spatial constellations can be experienced. Bodies move next to each other, separate from each other, find temporary alliances. Sometimes the collective takes center stage, sometimes a single body emerges from the group. Age is not thematized, but embodied. Closeness is not created through equality, but through attention. Movement becomes a form of mutual listening.

The production is an artistic highlight in the work of the Dancing Neighbors. They have been training and rehearsing together regularly for three years. This time is palpable: in the trust between the dancers and the choreographer, in the calmness of the movements, in the precision of the transitions. The choreography explains nothing. It opens up a space in which diversity can coexist and be celebrated.

Venue: Hartmannfabrik Chemnitz
Duration: 45 min
Information: Without spoken word

All further information at: https://www.theaterderwelt.de/programm/

A festival of the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute e.V.
Organized by Chemnitz Theatres, the Festival Academy Brussels and the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025 GmbH.

Price information:

Admission free