Project description_Choreografien des Öffentlichen / Coreografías de lo urbano

Choreographien des Öffentlichen/Coreografías de lo urbano will be produced by the temporary ensemble Plasticity and in cooperation with the Humboldt association(Goethe Institute Ecuador), MAE(Archive Museum for Architecture Ecuador (Quito) and FeldFünf (Berlin) and will take place in Quito, Ecuador (March and April 2019) and Berlin, Germany (August and September 2019)

Choreographien des Öffentlichen/Coreografías de lo urbano is a transcultural and interdisciplinary project that studies and investigates the multi-layered interactions that exist between public spaces and individuals. By working on three different performance duos that are going to be presented as performative`space tours ́:`Diverse Bodies, diverse Buildings ́, `Common Places, Meeting Grounds ́and `Bodies, Cities and Archives ́, the main objectives of this project are to critically reflect on and open up questions related to accessibility, historicity, post-colonialism and gentrification. Through examining the porousness and plasticity of/between bodies and public spaces, this project ultimately aims for an aware and open use of public spaces that facilitates participation and exchange through artistic productions. A key component of this project is to work with a mixed-abled and transnational ensemble that interweaves dance, theatre, and anthropology in order to voice the various layers, perspectives and complexities of the thematic. The team is constituted by three core members: Tamiana Naranjo, Lilly Pöhlmann and Josefin Pöhlmann. Two invited guests Roland Walter and Juan Lautaro Veneziale and another 4 local artists that join one phase only. The questions of how to consciously choreograph experiences in public spaces and in which ways this spaces (defined shapes) influence and/or configuarte bodies, started a dialogue between the involved artists and led them to find adequate partners in Quito and Berlin that are equally interested to start a long term research on this topic. An international cooperation is crucial for this production, as working with a mixed abled and transnational ensemble will open spaces where the `inner ́ and `outer ́ are questioned and binary oppositions are not taken for granted: new perspectives will emerge. This artistic project is a sustainable way of questioning the use and accessibility of public spaces and will open new ways of perceiving the so called `nature of places ́. Its high artistic and social value becomes evident through working with diverse bodies, site-specific venues, new cooperation’s and relevant topics that affect bodies on every day basis. Complementing the production of Choregraphien des Öffentlichen/Coreografías de lo urbano, four workshops will be offered by the core artistic team in Quito and Berlin respectively. These workshops are free of charge and open for everybody. Besides enriching the artistic process this format of sharing knowledge mainly aims for a direct dialogue and exchange with local residents and artists. This research is based on the `tour guide ́: a product and experience that is purchased and consumed. This choreographed experience is mostly designed for foreigners that `sells ́ a unique experience of the architectonic masterpieces, the `true ́ heart(s) of the city and its history, which indeed defines the cities particularities. Besides an immense variation on price and group size the services are also vast: mainstream-, alternative-, `not-normative ́-, art-, underground-, migration-and colonial history tours -`all’ topics are covered. The one thing in common: the promise of an eventful and personal experience in the foreign city. This project aims to uncover this choreography and critically discuss the form of interaction between bodies and spaces. Through working with a new framing this project aspires to destabilize the everyday choreographies, show real or/and imagined boundaries, question normative ways of using public spaces and reveal `myths ́ of the day to day. The three performative `space tours’are going to be created in close relationship with following neighbourhoods: San Marcos (MAE), Cruz Tobar and Iñaquito (Humboldt Association) and southern Friedrichstadt (Feldfünf). On one hand we will work with the subjective space experience and practices of each artist and on the other hand with the dramaturgy of the tour guide itself. Each performative `space tour’ will be lead by a different artist duo. Performances__Diverse Bodies, Diverse Buildings: Are there imagined or real boundaries in public spaces that we cannot or will not pass? Where do we find porousness, accessibility and openness? Is the idea of a complete accessible city an utopic one? Centre of research_Humboldt association (Quito), feldfünf (Berlin) Mediums_ sound, dance and architecture_Common Places, Meeting Grounds: Which places invite us to stay? How do these spaces voice the logic of consumerism, materialism or post materialism? Do places of leisure and gathering have an agency? Is the shopping mall the contemporary church? Centre of research_ Humboldt association (Quito), feldfünf (Berlin). Mediums_ text, dance_Bodies, Cities and Archives: How does the history of a places affect the way we move in them? How does the colonial architecture in Quito and the effects of gentrification in Berlin define the way we move and act? In which aspect do this topics merge?Which stories are told/not told about this streets and squares? Which stories do we not want to listen to? Centre of research_ MAE (Quito), feldfünf (Berlin). Mediums_ architecture, theatre, dance Diverse Bodies, Diverse Buildings and Common Places, Meeting Grounds will be presented at the Humboldt association and feldfünf and Bodies, Cities and Archives will be presented at the MAE and feldfünf. Furthermore, the MAE is interested in exposing a final documentation of the artistic process of the whole production at the end of each phase (Quito and Berlin).