Dear festival audience,
The program of the 33rd edition of euro-scene Leipzig deals anew with the state of our society and places great emphasis on distinctive aesthetic signatures, which we want to discover together with you.
London-based economic anthropologist Jason Hickel calls for “a new way of thinking about our relationship to the living world.” His book Less is More. Why Capitalism is Destroying the Planet and We’re Happier Without Growth is the basis for our Slovenian guest performance KRIZE. Here, as in other plays at this year’s euro-scene Leipzig, the consequences of 500 years of capitalism are a leitmotif. This form of economic activity with the imperative of endless growth is only possible if a large part of people, animals and nature are seen as objects: as raw material or resources that can be expropriated, enslaved, colonized and exploited. The result is a lack of compassion and an ignoring of suffering and death.
But empathy holds society together. And so Belgian star choreographer Miet Warlop evokes the spirit of community in our festival opening ONE SONG. Her exceptionally powerful performance was named one of the best pieces of 2022 by the New York Times. And rightly so, because it’s a real bang!
The exceptional performer Steven Cohen, who can also be seen on our festival motif throughout the city this year, takes us by the hand for his almost sacred mourning ritual PUT YOUR HEART UNDER YOUR FEET … AND WALK! to look suffering and death in the eye and celebrate life at the same time. In addition, there is the double evening SPHINCTÉROGRAPHIE + DEFACE with him to see: a unique thematic focus on the art of transformation and the political commitment of this special artist from South Africa, who has lived in France for many years.
The play KOULOUNISATION takes apart, with much humor and biting irony, the vocabulary of the French colonial power that gave emphasis to the colonization of Algeria.
In XIAO KE, renowned dance artist Jérôme Bel looks at the rapid development of the People’s Republic of China from Maoist cultural reform to a capitalist economic system together with the exceptional Chinese dancer of the same name.
Our two co-productions THE LONG SHADOW OF ALOIS BRUNNER and NEGOTIATING PEACE address the background of war and flight as well as the hope for peace and forgiveness. And UKRAINE FIRE by the legendary Dakh Daugthers from Kiev makes the stage of Schauspiel Leipzig shake with a manifesto for freedom and life – in a show between punk, activism, cabaret and expressionist music theatre.
To close the festival, Tânia Carvalho – the most dazzling representative of the current Portuguese dance scene – takes us on a journey between dream and reality. In her masterpiece ONIRONAUTA, she sits herself down at the grand piano and plays Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude, which, according to legend, the composer wrote full of rage when he learned of the capture of Warsaw by Russian troops in 1831.
You can find more stage performances as well as our plus program this year (with free admission) in our program booklet, including the discourse NO WOMEN, NO PEACE and the NACH|GEDANKEN & GESPRÄCHE initiated with students from the Institute for Theatre Studies at Leipzig University. We look forward to touching theatre moments and welcome you with open arms to your Leipzig Dance and Theatre Festival!
Christian Watty + the team of euro-scene Leipzig
