Ein Tanzsolo

For several minutes, we see only the back of the dancer, on whom the penetrating beam is focused. Every individual vertebra, every tendon, every muscle. Very gradually, her fingers, her hands, her arms begin to move. We witness the birth from reptile to mammal then to human.

»Rankefod«, which is Danish for (lat.) cirripede (barnacles), is a deeply fascinating dance solo about the development of life. The piece concentrates on the evolutionary memory of the body including its physical reality. The symbiosis of the nakedness of the skin, the organic-animal movements, and the electro-acoustic music by Swedish composer Sture Ericson determine the sensual perception of the piece.

Kitt Johnson, born in Odense in 1959, choreographer, dancer and artistic director of X-act company, is a maverick of Danish dance. She graduated from a sports degree at the university in her home town in Southern Denmark and was a competitive sportswoman in 1970-82. Since 1984, she has been dealing with modern dance and has worked with important choreographers such as Mark Tompkins and Sasha Waltz. She has made guest performances both at home and abroad with her individual solos, at venues including London and Lyon. Kitt Johnson received the distinguished prize »Danish Reumert Award« for her piece »Spejlet eller det der ånder i skyggen« (»The Mirror or What in the shadow breathes«, 2002).

In 2002-04 she was working at the institute for sport and biomechanics at the university in Odense, involved with the research project »movement as a physical process – an investigation of dance between aesthetic form and physical learning«. With a solo, this is Kitt Johnson’s first guest performance in Germany.