THE DAY I BECAME A CLOUD (2023)
A performance-parcours of the series SOLO LIKE A PIG
Here you find the mini-docu THE DAY I BECAME A CLOUD by Julia Franken
Further documentaries about the series SOLO LIKE A PIG under mediation & documentation
World Premiere 16. and 17. September 2023 Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
For the German premiere on November 25th and 26th, 2023 in the LVR’s Max Ernst Museum Brühl, the performance and installation will be adapted for the rooms of the permanent collection and the special exhibition ‘Surreal Futures’.
The Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris and the Max Ernst Museum Brühl have invited the Cologne-based choreographer Emanuele Soavi to develop a performance that relates to the museums’ collection spaces.
The new episode from the series SOLO LIKE A PIG is increasingly dedicated to the core theme that runs as a common thread through the series: “Surviving and remaining visible” – individually and collectively, as an artist and as a human being – even beyond one’s own finiteness. In this process, remembering reveals itself to be a strategy for setting transformations in motion – and sharing experiences (physically) to be another.
Soavi and the internationally renowned actress and dancer Kate Strong, as well as ensemble members of ESincompany and performers based in Paris, relate in scenic and dance miniatures to the famous portraits of dancers in the bipartite Salle Matisse. About his monumental work ‘La Danse’ Matisse said, that the fragmentation of the dancers create “An Impression of Vastness in a limited space”. The visual level intertwines with a sound installation by composer Johannes Malfatti, consisting of several vertically suspended bandoneons, promising to be both a visual-tonal framework and a challenging counterplay. The central event is supplemented and associatively expanded in further spaces by performative interventions.
The experimental series format SOLO LIKE A PIG consists of several standalone episodes that culminate in an hours-long performance course in 2025. THE DAY I BECAME A CLOUD is the third episode in the series. What connects all episodes is their departure from the conventional space of the theater and the creation of a barrier-free experiential space in museums, galleries, libraries and on the piazza, making contemporary dance and the involved art disciplines – music, visual / digital arts, acting – accessible to all and enabling friction and interaction between performance and audience.
The creation of the episodes is each based on Emanuele Soavi’s research residencies – in this case in Paris at the Goethe-Institute and in Annonay. The focus of the exploration is the consideration of the nature of the theatrical from sociological, historical, scientific and aesthetic perspectives, in order to engage in a very personal confrontation with his own role as an author, a choreographer and performer. And finally, together with artistic companions from various disciplines, to question the relationship between the (surrounding) world and the performative body from a current perspective.
‘Cloud appreciation’ Kate Strong, Emanuele Soavi, Johannes Malfatti
Federico Casadei, Taeyeon Kim, Lisa Kirsch, Lorenzo Molinaro
‘Chorus A’
PARIS: Olivia Bouis, Léonard Catz, Thibaut Carré, Joan Cellier, Mahamat Fofana, Marcelle Gressier, Joséphine Moulinjeune, Louison Valette
BRÜHL: Anastasia Barer, Marco Bissoli, Mohamed Moodimbi, Lili Oksanen
‘Chorus B’ Federico Casadei, Taeyeon Kim, Lisa Kirsch, Lorenzo Molinaro
Concept, Choreography Emanuele Soavi In cooperation with Kate Strong, Johannes Malfatti, Achim Conrad and the performers of Emanuele Soavi incompany Music Composition Johannes Malfatti Text Kate Strong, Emanuele Soavi Setting and Costumes Raissa Kankelfitz Technical Management Roman Sroka Stage and General Management Achim Conrad Project Management Miriam Leysner Public Relation Anne-Kathrin Reif Photos Joris Jan Bos
Special Thanks to Nils Brabandt, Joachim Hering, Kodac Ko, Giacomo Luci, Helga Müller-Serre, Mitchel Raper, Burkhatd Rauch, Andreas Schmitz, Hansjörg Thurn, Vitali Urtaev
Production by Emanuele Soavi incompany
In Co-production with Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and Max Ernst Museum Brühl des LVR
Supported by Goethe-Institut Paris, Cie La Baraka – Abou Lagraa & Nawal Aït Benalla – creative residency La Chapelle Annonay, ehrenfeldstudios, iDAS NRW and Harlequin
Funded by Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, Ministerium für Kunst und Wissenschaft des Landes NRW, NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, Kunststiftung NRW, KunstSalon-Stiftung
Kate Strong, was born in London and completed her dance training at the Royal Ballet School there. From 1983 to 1994 she was a dancer at the Frankfurt Ballet under William Forsythe. After working with Johann Kresnik at the Volksbühne Berlin, she joined Frank Castorf’s company as an actress in 1996. Kate Strong has been a freelance actor since 2002. Works with directors Karin Henkel and Ersan Mondtag have been invited several times to the Berlin Theatertreffen. She has performed at the Maxim Gorki Theater, the Berliner Ensemble, the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Schauspiel Köln, the Schauspielhaus Bochum and at international theaters such as the Schauspiel Zürich and the Theatre Nouveau de Montreuil in Paris.
Johannes Malfatti graduated from the national film and television school HFF “Konrad Wolf” in the field of sound for audio-visual media. His diverse work for film, television, theater and music projects ranges from electronic music to orchestral composition. He has worked with artists, musicians and choreographers such as Björk, Octet, Cat Power, The Twighlight Sad, Dominique A., Simone Kermes, Baroque Orchestra Elbipolis, Nadja Zwiener, Elfa Rún Kristinsdottir, Ömer Avci, Kobie van Rensburg, Arno Coenen, Laurie Young, Grayson Millwood, Jared Gradinger, Angela Schubot and film directors such as Yung Chang, Lucian Georgescu, Guy Édoin, Gutierrez, Carmen Garcia, Ciril Braem, Lixin Fan, Mo Asumang and Fabian Möhrke. www.johannesmalfatti.com
Raissa Kankelfitz was born in 1986 in Yalta (Crimea). She completed her training as a stage painter at the Landestheater Eisenach/Wilhelm Ostwald School in Berlin and studied stage and costume design with Barbara Ehnes and Kattrin Michel at the HfBK Dresden. After studying, she worked as an assistant to Barbara Ehnes and at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. Since 2018, Raissa Kankelfitz has been working as a freelance stage and costume designer at the Grips Theater Berlin, the Augsburg State Theater, the Hanover State Theater and the ITZ in Tübingen. She works closely with directors Theresa Henning and director Peer Ripberger. Raissa Kankelfitz lives in Berlin. www.raissakankelfitz.com
Federico Casadei studied at the Cecchetti Academy in Ravenna and in 2011 became a member of the youth company Agora Coaching Project in Reggio Emilia, where he worked with the choreographers Richard Wherlock, Mauro Bigonzetti, Jean-Christophe Maillot, Francesco Ventriglia, Ed Wubbe, Michele Merola and Enrico Morelli. Since 2012 he has danced regularly in Robert North’s production of ‘The Snowman’ in London’s West End, also taking on the role of dance captain. In 2013 he began working with Emanuele Soavi as a dancer and assistant.
Taeyeon Kim comes from South Korea and works as a dancer, choreographer and teacher in Cologne. In 2017 she received her degree from the Center for Contemporary Dance in Cologne. She has worked with choreographers such as Sita Ostheimer, Shumpei Nemoto, Emanuele Gat and Anna Konjetzky. With her solo piece Ms.Mon she was invited to various festivals, such as Tanz.tausch (2017), KOTID (2017) and Now & Next (2018). Since 2017 she has been a member of the Emanuele Soavi incompany as a dancer and assistant.
Lisa Kirsch studied at the University of Music and Dance in Cologne. She has worked as a dancer for Theater Heidelberg / Nanine Linning, Silke Z. / resistdance, Reut Shemesh Dance Company, Cocoon Dance, Didier Theron, Yaron Shamir, Stefan Dreher, Vera Sander, FreiraumEnsemble, MIRA and Georg Reischl. In 2013 she began working with Emanuele Soavi as a dancer and assistant, including AUREA with Susanne Linke.
Lorenzo Molinaro is a member of the Agora Coaching Project led by Michele Merola and Enrico Morelli. He danced in productions such as ‘Bolero’ by Roberto Scafati, ‘Elogia delle cose perdute’ by Enrico Morelli and ‘Allegro beyond Sonatas’ by Emanuele Soavi. He was awarded first prize at the international competitions in Luxembourg and Spain (Tarragona). In 2022 he worked with Aterballetto on the “Microdanze” project.
Olivia Bouis started to practice gymnastics already in her childhood. Until her baccalaureate she trained different dance disciplines. At EPSE Danse in Montpellier she got her contemporary EAT with the accompaniment of Diane Pelletier and Rudy Bryans. In Israel she trained and performed with the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company and created her first piece. In Paris she is also a member of an association which offers Gaga lessons.
Thibaut Carré started his dance travel at the Conservatoire de Montpellier for three years and after at EpseDanse (Anne-Marie Porras’s school) for two years, where he graduated as a dance teacher. Since then he worked with the companies of Blanca Li and Karine Saporta and also on a film with choreographer Mathilde Monnier.
Léonard Catz studied dance in Académie Internationale de la Danse. He received training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and electro. He is now part of “Milk Shake Project”, the gaga dance movement in Paris and Capsule, an electro dance program. He danced with Le Jeune Ballet Européen which allowed him to perform in pieces by choreographers such as Manuel Vignoble, Claude Brumachon, Andy de Groat. He recently had the opportunity to participate in the Boléro by Béjart at the Opéra de Paris.
Joan Cellier began to dance at the Conservatoire de danse d’Avignon before to go to the National Superior Dance School of Marseille. He finally went to Ballet Junior de Genève and started his career in the company of Marie-Claude Pietragalla. He is now a freelance dancer working for several companies in France and Switzerland. He also develops his own projects.
Mahamat Fofana trained as an Acrobat Dancer at Académie Fratellini – School of Circus in Paris from 2020-23. Since 2022 he worked with Uppercut Danseteater, Company Les Attentifs, Company Remue-Ménage, Clément Poirée and Company SAGE, touring in Denmark, Turkey, Canada, Italy and Spain. Mahamat holds also a masters degree in General Engineering.
Marcelle Gressier is a French dancer, choreographer and video-dance maker, exploring the relationships between dance and architecture through site-specific performances. She created the Compagnie Imago in 2020, which has become the anchorage point for her personal artistic projects. Her solo ‘740 Nanomètres’ (2021) won the Jury’s Price of the Brussels Dance Contest. Graduated from the Conservatory of Tours, she studied at the Youth Ballet of Aquitaine in Bordeaux. She joined FOCAR in 2021, an intensive course in choreography for architecture in Porto. During 2022/2023, she was part of the Incubator of Choreographers, from La Fabrique de la Danse in Paris.
Joséphine Moulinjeune studied ballet in the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Regional de Lyon with a choreographic studies diploma in classical dance. She took part in diverse programs in Bordeaux, Israel and Italy with creations, workshops and repertory work of Thierry Guiderdoni, Brigel Gjoka, Cyril Baldy, Brit Rodemund, Eduardo Torroja, Rubber Legz, Jos Baker, Yotam Peled, Jill Crovisier. As a dancer and actor she took part in TV series, movies and operas like ‘Tristan and Isolde’ in Bologna, ‘Platée’ and soon in ‘l’Enfant et les sortilèges’ at the Opéra Garnier. In 2023 she joined the company BDPC of David Llari and the company of Carole Bordes.
Louison Valette trained contemporary dance at the CNSMD de Lyon until 2020. The same year she started to work with Cie Samuel Mathieu in various creations. In 2021 she got closer to performance by working with Les Gens d’Uterpan in two creations: «Entropie» and «Kynesphère». Louison works between Paris and Lyon with different companies on shorter performative projects. In parallel she is building her own artistic creation activities by developing transdisciplinary projects of musical composition and research between sound and a social/dancing body.