toula

cie. toula limnaios

outre vie 2002

reviews

»all mingles, times and tenses, at first I only had been here, now I’m here still, soon I won’t be here yet… remembered, imagined, no matter, believing in me, believing it’s me… and the power to move, now and then, no need either, so long as the others move, the true others, but on earth, beyond all doubt on earth, for as long as it takes to die again, wake again, long enough for things to change here, for something to change, to make possible a deeper birth, a deeper death, or resurrection in and out of this murmur of memory and dream.« (quotes from samuel becketts »texts for nothing«)

»in her choreographies she creates a poetry of humanity. time and again she succeeds in bringing the inner world of a human being to the surface. she doesn’t tell stories but dances moods that oscillate between being and not-being.« (berliner morgenpost, andrea philippi, 2001)

a cie. toula limnaios production, in co-production with the theater am halleschen ufer and with kind support by the senate administration for science, research and culture, funded by the performing arts fund e.v. from the federal means.
guest performances: stuttgart

concept/choreography

toula limnaios

music

ralf r. ollertz

live-music

lenka zupkova (violine)

dance/creation

raffaella galdi, ulrich huhn, wencke kriemer, lena meierkord, krzystof zawadzki

lightdesign

klaus dust

public relation

silke wiethe

videoprojections

cyan

fotos

dieter hartwig

reviews

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»on the trail of life /// lena, lena, lena – a whisper is heard on stage. lena, lena, lena – the four dancers call out to the beautiful girl with the dark almond eyes while she wanders around like a will-o’-the-wisp, between one and another. where to go? which way to choose? whom to trust? the greek choreographer toula limnaios dedicates her most recent work to the life itself. the piece ›outre vie‹ is, after the award-winning choreography from 2001 – ›nothing. i will be there by not being there.‹, the second part of a trilogy that pursues the traces of birth, life and death. also this time, the charming artist and her dance company follow samuel beckett’s ›texts for nothing‹, written in 1955.
through beckett’s torn rhythm, its dualisms between being and not-being, between constant becoming and dying, toula limnaios, who has been creating in berlin since 1997, wants to create a ›mosaic of life‹ on stage, in which the paths of the five dancers continuously cross, connect or repel. ›outre vie‹ can have many meanings. it may describe the other side of every life, its past, its future, standing on a turning point, or a moment of a crumbling end, where a new beginning awaits.
if you follow the pieces by toula limnaios, you quickly discover the choreographer’s greatest talent: almost every time she succeeds in bringing moods of soul to the stage. you can feel it, when one of the dancers breathes a delicate feather into the air, or when all dancers twist and turn confusedly on the ground to windy, dripping sounds of another world. with violin accompaniment played live on stage, video impressions and a new, very well harmonized ensemble, the cie. toula limnaios once again left the deep traces of life on the stage of the theater am halleschen ufer.« (berliner morgenpost, andrea philippi, 2002)

»arrival in red /// ›outre vie‹ is a colourfully intense piece. the five dancers and the violinist wear dresses and shirts in bright colors. the canvas in the background picks up these colors and glows red and yellow. lenka zupkova’s violin playing is fed into the computer and multiplies to the echo. no detail remains unanswered this evening. ›outre vie‹ tells of being in good hands. yet the cutting off from everything that holds one, the prologue aims for, reappears in the choreography. this often happens anecdotally: funny movements often emerge out of a wide range of awkward and unfortunate situations. this is more reminiscent of the classics of the dance theater, which stylized social habits, than it was the case with toula limnaios previous pieces. the uncertainty, however, reaches above all deep into the style of movement, the build-up of energy: in an often detailed and precise change from tension-free states, from bodies and limbs without their own support, to moments full of strength and energetic impulses. ›no need of a story, a story is not compulsory, just a life.‹ and a life, actually quite a few, are undoubtedly interwoven in her choreographies.« (taz berlin, katrin bettina müller, 2002

»as far as your feet can carry /// she is the philosopher among young choreographers. toula limnaios plunges into dark inner worlds, where the self is lost. her piece ›outre vie‹ is the second part of a trilogy inspired by samuel beckett’s ›texts for nothing‹. the choreography for five dancers follows traces of life, paths of fate. the entrance into life, being and becoming, growth and standing still. photos of children from a family album give the piece something intimate. at the beginning, the dancers sit on the chairs, with only their feet touching: this foot-ballet is delicate and bizarre, it shows the careful exploration of one’s own body and its boundaries.« (tagesspiegel, sandra luzina, 2002)