In January 1972, German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder shot The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant in just ten days — a radical film about power structures and the pressing question: How can and do we want to live together? The protagonist Petra von Kant puts it bluntly: "People are made in such a way that they need each other. But they haven't learned how to be together."
Fifty years later, Shaked Heller and I took up the questions from Fassbinder's film. We developed a choreography of nightmarish depth that not only addresses human dynamics, but also reflects on the interrelationship between people and space.
In a duet of oppressive closeness, prisoner and captor face each other within an arena of blankets. Exposed to the inevitability of their encounter, the audience observes a fight for power, closeness, and trust.
Credits
Choreography and Concept: Louis Stiens
Dancers: Shaked Heller, Louis Stiens
Stage Design: Madeleine Stuckenbrock
Light Design: Louis Stiens
Text: based on R. W. Fassbinder
Music Mix and Recording: Felix Nagel
Voices: Josephine Köhler, Evgenia Dodina
Photography: Atelier Oradoro
Premiere: January 15, 2022, FITZ Stuttgart
Duration: 30'
