Vis Motrix

They are beings as if from another world. With a fascinatingly bizarre energy, they move through the space, morphing into an organism that is part human, part machine, and creating a hypnotic pull that becomes inescapable. “Vis motrix” means “the driving force”—and targets the soul. In this production, the Bonn-based company CocoonDance creates hybrid beings that get to the very heart of movement itself. The group thus continues its search for the “body yet to be conceived”: transhumanism as a traumatic dance roundelay that touches the unconscious.

With *Vis Motrix* , choreographer Rafaële Giovanola, winner of the 2027 German Dance Prize, has created a work of hypnotic kinetic intelligence. Featuring dancers as “fantastic sci-fi superorganisms on the trail of life’s mystery” (tanz magazine).

!! Before each performance , the audience is invited to a 20-minute hands-on introduction. This takes place on stage and is led by Rafaële Giovanola. No prior experience or special clothing is required for the introduction. The meeting point is at 7:15 p.m. in the foyer.

Press Reviews
Pure movement cannot be made visible, but we sense its effect—as enchanting as it is mechanical—within all living things. Rafaële Giovanola offers her audience a view of the female body unlike anything seen before. This production deserves attention for this visual stroke of genius alone. (Thomas Linden, Kölnische Rundschau)

“Tanzplattform Deutschland got off to an impressive start in Munich. In ‘Vis Motrix’ by choreographer Rafaële Giovanola, the audience—increasingly fascinated—was exposed to a totally alien visual world. Her four dancers (Cocoon Dance/Bonn) lie on their backs on the floor. The way the bodies then—like electronic particles—glide across a white surface at varying speeds, with different dynamics and levels of technical complexity, is sensational.” (Vesna Mlakar, Münchner Abendzeitung)

By and with: Fa-Hsuan Chen, Cristina Commisso, Martina De Dominicis, Susanne Schneider,
Choreography: Rafaële Giovanola
Music: Franco Mento
Costumes: CocoonDance
Lighting / Set Design: Gregor Glogowski
Dramaturgy: Rainald Endraß