toula

cie. toula limnaios

life is perfect 2007

reviews

»life is perfect« is a tableau of stories from real life balancing on the slim line between moments of happiness and the pitfalls of reality. when the stage set crumbles, it reveals something other than expected: growing brutality, speechlessness, feelings of isolation and loneliness that we experience right on our own doorsteps. »life is perfect« confronts order and harmony with their instability and fragmentation. the smoothness of the outer shell directs attention to the fine cracks, behind which a disparate panorama unfolds – brutal and vulnerable, disturbing and virtuosic, tender and oppressive.
a poetic documentation of the ambivalent relationship to reality that follows the imponderability of life. poetic compression and radical intensification of everyday behavior into moody images reveal distorted stereotypes. they penetrate the veneer of superficiality – expose the underlying dissonances. in polyphonic images, which are at once both real and fantastic, »life is perfect« carries its viewers into absurd worlds with double bottoms in which only a few steps are enough to topple situations.

»marvellous images, a music which takes you with and outstanding dancers. this piece of art must have been seen.« (recife, 2007)

»toula limnaios’ choreographies are always documents of destabilization. her existentialistic plunges to the depths of the soul have earned her an exceptional position in the german dance scene. the sophisticated visual aesthetics of the pieces never cease to impress. on her tours abroad, she is celebrated as a prime example of berlin dance.« (tagesspiegel, sandra luzina, 2007)

a cie. toula limnaios production, in co-production with the halle, the künstlerhaus mousonturm frankfurt/ main, the 5th international dance festival athens & the goethe institute athens. With the kind support of the berlin senate for culture, funded by the national performance network from federal funds.
tours: frankfurt/main, kopenhagen, recife, sobral, belo horizonte, athen, patras, thessaloniki, fortaleza, vilnius, riga

premiere  2007 dance/creation mercedes appugliese, nikos kamontos, elik niv, carlos osatinsky, ute pliestermann, katja scholz, hironori sugata

concept/choreography

toula limnaios

music

ralf r. ollertz

dance/creation

giacomo corvaia, marika gangemi, adilso machado, samuel minguillon, hironori sugata, karolina wyrwal, inhee yu

lightdesign

klaus dust

public relation

silke wiethe

costumes

toula limnaios, antonia limnaios

fotos

dieter hartwig

reviews

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»marvellous images, a music which takes you with and outstanding dancers. this piece of art must have been seen.« (recife, 2007)

»700 visitors of the amphitheatre in patras were fascinated by »life is perfect« of the cie. toula limnaios. great dancers, beautiful music and a firework of creativity. the most impressive dance piece of the last years.« (patras news, 2007)

»limnaios’ performances are not simple dance shows, however. rather, they are art performances interplays of expressive movement, extraordinary light and experimental music in which body, color and sound melt into each other. the choreographer breaks down the frontiers between the genres of dance, music, video and light design, while also employing these components as equal elements in her performances. her company is able to create an atmosphere of imagination and reality in a poetic and sensitive way that also invites the spectator to dive into this inner world of mood and feeling for themselves.« (new york arts magazine, tina kesting)

»the fans love her productions because of their visual aesthetics and multi-faceted, nuanced choreographies. the unique music by ralf ollertz contributes to it greatly. together with him, limnaios has founded the ensemble cie. toula limnaios, quartered in its own dance venue – the halle. it is considered a fine address for modern dance in berlin.« (berliner zeitung, 2008)

»the piece becomes rich and richer in the storm of music. this is due to the exuberant power of the dancers and the beautiful power of the choreographer.« (ballet-tanz, arnd wesemann, 2007)

»a kaleidoscope of dance theatre. … great dance theatre!« (tagesspiegel, 2008)

»…a scenic collage that revolves around encounters, interpersonal confrontations, intimacy, loss, and emotional insecurities. seven dancers create poetic dance theater images.« (berliner morgenpost)

»an exceptional dance piece.« (berliner morgenpost)

»the company shows one of its most successful pieces. a dance made in berlin is an export hit. in brazil, greece, lithuania and latvia it is touring with this powerful work. now the piece can be seen again in berlin.« (tip, 2008)

»in the scenes, the cie. toula limnaios finds again and again wonderfully impressive, painful images for the relationship constellations between people. the music of composer ralf r. ollertz, who creates his electronically processed sounds on stage with zither, micro, singing bowl, paper and percussion, makes a decisive contribution to the maelstrom of toula limnaios’ impressive choreography. it provides fascinating images that will remain in the memory for a long time.« (www.hamburgtheater.de / berlin-spezial)

»… the most beautiful solo of the evening is delivered by hironori sugata: he gently carries out the surprising ending that gives hope again.« (www.tanznetz.de & neues deutschland volkmar draeger, 2007)

»… from a purely visual perspective, toula limnaios once again relies on familiar dance theater elements. yet, she finds her own access to it. what one thinks to have seen far too often elsewhere results here in a dense series of pictures. the piece appears harmoniously flowing, and in the end it gets sorted into two piles – reality and illusion.a final image like from a picture book« (zitty, constanze klementz, 2007)

»…the choreographer doesn’t dwell on surface appeal for long. toula limnaios is on the trail of inner tumult, her pieces tell of a deep insecurity. when two dancers hang a bandoneon round their neck, the instruments seem to be breathing too. the malicious humor is new. beauty and pain, love and dependency, time and again she succeeds in creating touching moments: the women`s longing for tenderness gets fulfilled in a perfidious way. the group covers a half-naked woman with kisses, until her body is marked by red lipstick. then the last veils fall…« (tagesspiegel, sandra luzina, 2007)

»limnaios’ focus on dance was particularly impressive: exploring the emotions, the complexity of the relationships in movement, creating free spaces. a choreography of strong gesture danced with infinite facets.« (frankfurter neue presse, marcus hladek, 2007)

»›life is perfect‹. the title is quickly refuted: the seven dancers turn notions, fears and passions into radical images, create a poetic exploration of role clichés. the choreographies of the greek choreographer toula limnaios follow the traces of an inner conflict.« (3sat: kulturzeit: kulturtipps, 2007)

»when toula limnaios choreographs she looks for that which is hidden under the surface. the radicality of her images, the virtuosity and poetry make plain why the company and her venue in the eberswalder strasse are considered to be vital parts of the berlin dance scene.« (tip, programmkalender, 2008)

»toula limnaios ’choreographies are delicate and rich in detail, the movements are finely chiselled and often surprising. it is obvious that a dance maker here prefers to draw the unusual out of the deep well of gestures and steps – without relying on novelty at any price.« (frankfurter rundschau, 2007)

»sound and dance that play with clichés, with the longing for the perfect. all shout: ›it does not exist!‹. and yet: in the end remains a poetic image of a pile of coats and the beauty of undraped bodies, nestled protectively together.« (frankfurter allgemeine sonntagszeitung, eva-maria magel, 2007)

»… her language of movement is as diverse as it is imaginative. the choreography by limnaios could be named after one of truffaut’s films: they kissed each other, they hit each other – there are all the nuances in between.« (frankfurter rundschau, sylvia staude, 2007)