melancholic ground
Due to organizational constraints, the jury-selected piece ‘melancholic ground’ unfortunately cannot be staged as a live performance. Therefore, Doris Uhlich will present the project in an alternative format instead.
(c) Alexi Pelekanos
(c) Alexi Pelekanos
(c) Alexi Pelekanos
(c) Alexi Pelekanos
22.11
12:00
Free Entry
SEAD
75 min
In English
Due to organizational constraints, the jury-selected piece ‘melancholic ground’ unfortunately cannot be staged as a live performance. Therefore, Doris Uhlich will present the project in an alternative format instead.
A ship, a castle, a car, and a horse. As children, we encounter a small world on the playground. Built for sheer enjoyment, for physical exercise, and as a backdrop for flourishing fantasies, the playground structures appear beyond their usual functions in ‘melancholic ground’, which premiered at Wiener Festwochen in 2023. Performers of various generations execute their movements in extreme slowness, in a halting flow, or present themselves dressed in plush costumes and with body extensions to be used as toys for others. In doing so, Doris Uhlich explores the feeling of melancholy. Rather than leading to isolation, ‘melancholic ground’ makes this state collectively experienceable. In the absurd Disneyland between frames for climbing and sand, subtle resistance is offered against the dictates of productivity and the standardization of bodies.
We are all connected by the fact that we were children. When children measure and compare themselves on play equipment built for them by adults, it makes me reflect on the influence the older generation has on the next and which bodies are excluded from play. ‘melancholic ground’ opens a space to think about childhood, education, societal rules of socialization, traces of the past, present, and projections into the future.
Doris Uhlich
Doris Uhlich, Austrian choreographer and performer, develops projects in different formats – from pieces for the stage to site-specific performances. She works with people with varying backgrounds and physical inscriptions, opens the stage for people with physical disabilities, demonstrates the potentials of nakedness beyond eroticism and provocation and investigates the relationship between human being and machine at many different levels. She has received numerous prizes and awards and was recently awarded the Austrian Art Prize 2024 in the category Performing Arts from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport. She was also awarded the Austrian Music Theatre Award 2024 for ‘SONNE’ as the Best Dance Production.
Concept and choreography Doris Uhlich Dramaturgy Adam Czirak Performance (Wiener Festwochen, Spielplatz Donaupark) Hugo Le Brigand, Pedra Costa, Adil Embaby, Ann Muller, Andrius Mulokas, Moravia Naranjo, Mzamo Nondlwana, Gabriele Oßwald, Karin Pauer, Thomas Richter, Vera Rosner, Virginie Roy, Wolfgang Sautermeister, Valentino Skarwan, Grete Smitaite, Haha Wang Spatial interventions Juliette Collas, Marco Tölzer Costume Katharina Heistinger, Juliette Collas DJ and sound Boris Kopeinig Dramaturgy internship Johann Ebert Production Margot Wehinger, Helen Parkes Communication and press Franziska Heubacher Company management Margot Wehinger International distribution Giulia Traversi
A co-production by Wiener Festwochen and insert Tanz und Performance GmbH.
With the kind support of the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport.
22.11
12:00
Free Entry
SEAD
75 min
In English
Doris Uhlich, Austrian choreographer and performer, develops projects in different formats – from pieces for the stage to site-specific performances. She works with people with varying backgrounds and physical inscriptions, opens the stage for people with physical disabilities, demonstrates the potentials of nakedness beyond eroticism and provocation and investigates the relationship between human being and machine at many different levels. She has received numerous prizes and awards and was recently awarded the Austrian Art Prize 2024 in the category Performing Arts from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sport. She was also awarded the Austrian Music Theatre Award 2024 for ‘SONNE’ as the Best Dance Production.