"La Strada" 2016
(Comments © by "LaStrada, Graz")
"limits"
cirkus cirkör (se)
"When I was little, I thought that people were moving around the Earth in order to keep the globe in equilibrium. When we close borders and build fences, we cause this balance to be lost and the Earth tips up", says Tilde Björfors, who has been applying her artistic energy to borders and overcoming them since founding her Cirkus Cirkör. Never was this topic more current than now, and the celebrated production "Limits" deals with the question as to how real or imaginary borders of all kinds are. As to the extent to which the boundaries of what is possible through acrobatics and artistry can be stretched and perspectives can be stood on their heads, this is demonstrated in a unique manner by this year´s La Strada opening production, presenting the audience with a real test of perception.
"ich:sucht:leben"
axe:körpertheater:graz (at)
The Graz Stadtpavillon: social focal point. For two years now, the principal location for an artistic ensemble resident in the Stadtpark. Led by actors and social workers, it works on improv pieces. Their means of expression: their bodies, speaking to the audience. Vividly and provocatively, they talk about life´s cravings. Directed by Michael Labres this piece of spoken and physical theatre constitutes an overdose of life´s reality, which interprets failure as a process necessary for renewal. At the end it is people from the margins of society who occupy the centre of our attention. Encountering eye-to-eye with acoustic soft furnishing by the composer Patrick Dunst.
"caffe sola"
les zanimos (fr)
At the table of exile, puppeteers Maria Dicanto and other fugitives spread out their treasures. The songs and memories they bring with them and moving stories they tell of flight and migration. Posing themselves, the children and their parents this question: what identity does one bring along and what identity does one adopt in the new country?
"final season"
spielraum ensemble (at)
Theatre, film, installation - Lisa Horvath is at home everywhere. With her Spielraum Ensemble, this multidisciplinary artist creates in "Final Season" a link between art, nature and city. Awaiting the audience at a tent camp is a fusion of theatre, dance, audio drama, performance, music and multimedia installation. A place where no one knows who´s an observer, who´s a participant or who´s an intruder?
"zwischen den bäumen"
tao! - theater am ortweinplatz (at)
Sometimes there´s Fellini playing on Ortweinplatz square too. With their production called "Zwischen den Bäumen", eleven young people from the TaO! workshops and five musicians bring the flair of an Italian piazza to Graz. In a poetic parade to the sounds of Nino Rota, they present a rhythmic play on love and loneliness.
"a no man show - an evening with andy warhol"
united puppets (de)
If Andy Warhol chats with Mickey Mouse and Nico sings along, that´s intriguing. United Puppets from Berlin invite you to an evening of "A No Man Show - An Evening with Andy Warhol" with the grand master of art, self-portrayal, medialization and consumption, looking back from today´s perspective at the concept of Andy Warhol. Here they follow the tracks left behind by his Factory, revive the old myths of US pop culture and allow the almost one-metre-tall, pallid puppet of the master to meet his globalised revenants. The basis for this piece of puppet theatre and installation project is a large theatre project that Warhol developed together with Peter Sellers and Lewis Allen for Broadway, but was unable to realise before his death. Till now as, inspiringly animated, he does indeed appear with it on stage in Graz.
"wandering orquestra"
wandering orquestra (es)
What wonderful madness: first a strange orchestra with old-fashioned instruments turns up in an even stranger vehicle. At this point the flamboyant musicians would indeed be ready to start their concert - but nobody knows where they´re playing, where it´s all headed or whom to talk to. Well that´s just fine and doesn´t matter one jot!
"nola 2nd line - opus 2"
zygos brass band (fr)
They bring the vitality and music of the Mississippi to the Mur. Last year the Zygos Brass Band stirred up movement on the city´s streets; this year they´re returning with a new production that will involve masks, whilst also being shrouded in secrets. Perhaps hardly surprising that elements of voodoo have a big part to play ...
"miss dolly"
marcel et ses drôles de femmes (fr)
Failing with style at main square: when Marcel et ses Drôles de Femmes swing from trapeze to trapeze and it doesn´t always look like the realisation of the dream of flying, it´s actually on purpose - and immensely entertaining. Because these four graduates of those legendary artists´ academies, the National Circus School of Rosny Sous-Bois and National Centre of Circus Arts in Châlons-en-Champagne, don´t plummet inadvertently from dizzying heights; rather, they counter the risk with conscious naivety, lightness, professionalism and, above all, with a huge amount of humour. A breathtaking production, described by the artists as "a poem of strange bodies, a language that speaks to all, a mixture of trembling and adrenaline, limitleß commitment and a circus of hideous beauty".
"bizangos"
rara woulib (fr)
Holy clowns, story tellers, monsters and a fortune teller like the erstwhile Cassandra take their audience along on a journey on which long forgotten memories and feelings are relived in unexpected places. The artists of Compagnie Rara Woulib know that binding force and how to make superb use of processions in order to bring out the characteristics not only of special places but also of participants in the night time. In forlorn areas of the city, the actors awaken an atmosphere of isolation, despair, emptiness and fear of the invisible through the media of theatre, music and the impromptu; all those feelings with roots in our childhood. An eerily exciting journey through the city and to one´s personal fears accompanied by the Styrian Choir Nota Bene.
"l´aimant"
compagnie lézards bleus (fr)
Antoine Le Menestrel climbs up the façades of the buildings, dances to the rhythm of the architecture and interprets the city´s walls anew. In his piece called "L´ Aimant", this façade climber is in search of that great love, crests balconies, taps on windows, presents roses or a smile - and hopefully ultimately finds his Juliet.
"¿quieres ser mi amigo?"
murmuyo (cl)
Last year Murmuyo "managed" the traffic in a wonderful way and won the hearts of passers-by; this year he returns in search of friends. ¿Quieres ser mi amigo? - Do you want to be my friend? - is the title of his new production, which has people and a town plan at its centre - and ultimately, for sure, no end of new friendships.
"die gestiefelte katze"
theater zitadelle (de)
Doesn´t that look good? The evil magician is dead, her master is a happily married king and she is the first female minister. The path to this happy ending for this queen puss in boots is told by Daniel Wagner from Theater Zitadelle in his lively and humorous puppet show - with the generous concession that parents and dog lovers are allowed to come too.
"fanfare circa tsuica"
cheptel aleïkoum (fr)
That carefully ordered arrangement of classic brass bands, with its straight lines and perfect formations - you can forget that, once Cheptel Aleïkoum conquers the city. The most important principal of order applies both to the musicians and the audience: "Don´t take yourself so seriously!" The "acrobatic and dangerous brass band" inspires audiences to clap, dance, laugh and sing. But that´s not all - they also expressly encourage people to kiss anyone they want to, there and then. The musical accompaniment for happy hearts is a mixture of Balkan sounds and American jazz, round which the musicians´ instruments and bodies dance, bringing incredible energy to the streets.
"mesa para 2"
co.labse (es/at)
A new restaurant opens; the list of reservations is long; a table for two has been reserved. Just how many accidents and other catastrophes can take place before these places can themselves at last be taken? Director Sergi Estebanell and his collective of five artists show us by means of street theatre, clownery and dance.
"open dance"
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When Tango-Baustelle Graz sets to, the rhythm of the city is transformed and a breath of Buenos Aires wafts down Kaiserfeldgasse street. Tango all night long, that´s the theme when the dedicated team of Christian Bakanic, Christian Wendt and Jörg Haberl place a soundscape composed of jazz, modern groove from the club scene, house and drum´n´bass at the feet of an eager public. A virtuoso invitation to move freely to the music and dance.
"la bourse ou la vie?"
compagnie lézards bleus (fr)
In his staging of "your money or your life", Antoine Le Menestrel, the "artist of elevation", toys with the fears and decision processes of inhabitants of the façades of the city. A performance that turns on the question of what is greater, courage or fear. When it ends, the walls will indeed still be standing, as for so long - but perhaps thought processes will have changed.
"salome"
handmaids berlin (de)
She is a dangerous person and dares to wish for something unbelievable: to be equal and emancipated. Just like that, even though she´s a woman. Salome has always stirred things up, and so it is again this year at La Strada. The artists of Handmaids Berlin have addressed the many facets of this dangerous character and offer the free-thinking woman a new stage, on which the story is portrayed of Salome personifying the powerful, self-determined disempowerment of the existing system and struggle for more freedom and equality. As a paper universe in which rulers are folded up and kingdoms torn apart. But questions are also asked of the prophets - ultimately we do indeed need to know what resides in the texts of that woman who survived the bible and dances in every third night club.
"die kleine hexe"
handmaids berlin (de)
Little witches too have dreams that help when growing up. This is what Handmaids Berlin show with their interpretation of the famous children´s book, in which a young woman learns to stand up for her own ideals and views, and to defend them. A reinterpretation without any moral finger-pointing, with a good deal of fun and a bit of magic.
"-"
adrian schvarzstein (es)
Never before was the La Strada audience so close to Adrian Schvarzstein. This actor and theatre director directs a street theatre workshop that offers an introduction to the practice of street theatre. What opportunities and challenges does the public space offer? How does the interaction between artists and spectators work? How is it that, though body language, improvisation, the setting and collaboration, the magical moment of performance emerges.
"mù, cinématique des fluides"
transe express (fr)
The grand La Strada finale takes us into a land full of acrobatics, poetry and fantasy. With a ballet between heaven and earth, surrealistic creatures from other dimensions blur the boundaries between this world and the next, water creatures conquer the airspace, floating acrobats douse the audience with water and everything shines in fluorescent colours. With his "journey from the Earth to the Moon", "Mù" follows the tracks of Jules Verne and shows his marvelling audience how graceful and, at the same time, monumental it can look to move between illusionistic reality and realistic illusions. By means of contemporary circus, the French artists ensure gaping mouths and powerful emotions - taking the odd spectator quite literally to dizzying heights.
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