research or die.
summer | main event
running from the 1st to the 28th of july 2024
© ÖncuGültekin
b12 summer main event
sungrazers
b12 invites artists, who are teaching at the b12 festival, to present an evening-length piece.
reut shemesh
atara
dates (dock 11 theater)
The theater hall is located at ground level in the second courtyard. It is accessible via a step that can be bridged with a ramp if necessary. Due to current renovation work, which is expected to last until September 2023, there is currently no barrier-free toilet available. Severely disabled persons who require accompaniment will receive a free accompaniment ticket. Unfortunately, it is not possible to book the accompanying ticket online. Please book your ticket online and send an e-mail to dockart@dockart-berlin.de for the accompanying ticket. We will then provide the accompanying ticket. People in wheelchairs or with other physical or cognitive impairments who need assistance, we ask for prior registration by email at dockart@dockart-berlin.de.
Unfortunately, there are no disabled parking spaces near DOCK 11.
Unfortunately, there are no disabled parking spaces near DOCK 11.
Reut Shemesh is a choreographer and media artist from Israel, based in Cologne, who is currently funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the category ‘Spitzenförderung’ - the state’s top level dance funding programme. Her pieces and films have been shown at Art Cologne, Tanzplattform, Impulse Theatre Festival, tanzhaus nrw, HELLERAU in Dresden, the Transition Video Art Festival in Maastricht and Kampnagel in Hamburg, among others. Guest performances have taken her to the Netherlands, Slovakia, Singapore, Israel and the USA. She created commissioned works for the Oberhausen Theatre (Bad Mothers, 2022) and the Maslool School in Tel Aviv, and holds regular lectures at universities and dance institutions in the region and abroad. Currently, ULTRA, a co-creation with the Belgian production house fABULEUS is touring through several European cities. This year she will also celebrate the premiere of the large-scale commissioned production ESTHER in Potsdam, Munich, Hamburg and Dresden. Being a woman, an artist, a mother, and an immigrant, she often interlaces her own lived experiences into her work.
In 2016, her piece LEVIAH won the Cologne Dance Theatre Prize. In April 2019, Shemesh created the piece ATARA during the residency program at K3|Tanzplan Hamburg, which was subsequently invited to the Tanzplattform Germany 2020. Her research project under the working title WITNESS opened the Impulse Theatre Festival 2019, with its final version COBRA BLONDE premiering in its digital version at tanzhaus nrw in April 2021 and in October 2021 as the live performance at HELLERAU in Dresden which showed a collection of her most recent pieces and installations in cooperation with the Jüdische Kulturtage (Jewish Culture Days) 2021 under the heading: Portrait: The Choreographer Reut Shemesh. The short film COBRA, which she created together with filmmaker Ronni Shendar, and is based on the performance COBRA BLONDE, premiered at the NYBA Dance Film Fest in Buenos Aires and was recently shown at the TANZ AHOi Film Fest 2023 in Hamburg after being shown in several venues and festivals.
Her piece BAD MOTHERS, a commission for the Theater Oberhausen, premiered in March 2022 and marked her first choreographic commission for an acting ensemble at a German municipal theater. In August 2022, the piece ATARA, and the commissioned work GOLA 3rd Movement for the Maslool Dance School was shown at the Suzanne Dellal Centre in Tel Aviv. The fourth part of the GOLA series, GOLA 4th Movement, premiered in September 2022 at HELLERAU in Dresden and toured to the (Rh)einfach Fest! at TanzFaktur Cologne and the MOVE! Festival in Krefeld later that year. Currently, the piece ULTRA – Reut’s co-creation with the Belgian production house fABULEUS in Leuven (BE) is touring through Belgium following the premiere in Leuven in November 2023 and will be shown in Düsseldorf and Cologne in the spring of 2024. In 2024 she will also show her next production Youth & Uniform, a large scale cooperation between fabrik Potsdam, K3 Hamburg, Fokus Tanz Munich and HELLERAU Dresden.
atara
In ATARA, choreographer Reut Shemesh directs her gaze onto the world view shared by women who live according to the rules set forth by Jewish orthodoxy and those who take a secular approach. Together, they ask what femininity, female sexuality and their places in society could be. How do they find their destiny, or how do they fail in doing so? By means of reenactments of events from her own surroundings – Reut Shemesh grew up in a family both secular as well as orthodox – and through photography, text and movement, an oscillating dialogue between different outlooks arises. In this way, clichés, prejudice and one’s own lifestyle come into question in equal measure.
ATARA is a project inspired by the practice of daily life of Hasidic Orthodox Jewish women, in ceremonies and in rituals. Hasidot is a Jewish religious movement founded in the 18th century in Eastern Europe. The everyday life of Hasidic Orthodox Jewish women is full of detailed rules and rituals that govern everyday life, from hairstyle to family structures. The values, like world view, are very much determined by the religion. The year is characterized by numerous holidays and the observance of rituals and celebrations has important social effects. They help to keep tradition alive, contribute to a sense of community and belonging. The body is dedicated to the performance of religious acts and marked with symbols. The clothing as well as most of the daily activities are carefully performed. Orthodox Jewish women and men are easily recognizable recognized by their clothing. An Orthodox Jewish woman typically wears skirts that cover the knee, shirts that cover the collarbone covering the collarbone and elbow. Hasidic Jewish women who are married often cover their hair with a wig. Hasidic Jews attach great importance to family life and reproduction. They usually marry at the age of between 18 and 25 and have large families, often with 6 to 10 children. In orthodox Jewish culture, family life is the center of family life is the center of achievement in a person's life. person's life.
This way of life has a strong influence on family structures, gender roles, sexuality and the female body. For example, it is very unusual to expose body parts. To avoid the risk of sexual stimulation, in some communities it is forbidden for men to look at a woman's body. Consequently, this social situation separates men and women in public spaces. In all Orthodox synagogues, men pray separately from women while they sit in a gallery on the upper floor. Orthodox women are not allowed to dance, sing or perform in front of men in any form. Weddings, like many other celebrations are gender-segregated by a partition, such as a curtain. In some cases, these rules rules lead to conflicts for female dancers and choreographers who want to work as professional dancers. However, there is a discourse among themselves about the relationship between orthodox Jewish practice and feminism, both in public (in the synagogue) and in private. Some women speak of a feeling of oppression, while others feel empowered by their family and community.
The expected role of women in Orthodox Jewish communities is of great concern to me and it was urgent concern to exchange ideas with Orthodox and formerly Orthodox women - about their way of life in relation to my in relation to my (secular) world view. So I hoped that the conversations I had during my research would clarify many of my questions.
My personal biography allowed me to experience the Hasidic way of life at first hand: I was born in Israel and about 15 years ago some of my closest family members converted to Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally I take part in Jewish ceremonies and rituals and have to follow certain rules. According to the Jewish Torah it is forbidden for a man to touch a woman to whom he is not married. This rule applies to all family members, friends and acquaintances (except his mother). That's why I haven't had any physical contact with my brother for about 15 years. This work is strongly inspired by these conversations and and my personal involvement with women who practice the Jewish Orthodox faith. During the research for this work, I had the opportunity to interview 10 orthodox and secular women in Hamburg, Israel and New York City, such as some of my closest family members. I owe them a great debt of gratitude and respect for sharing their experiences, knowledge and personal personal opinions and for the time they gave me.
I would also like to thank the artistic team of ATARA - Ronni, Hella, Tsipi, Sabina, Florian, Simon and Bela, for their commitment and dedication. I would also like to thank the team at K3, who made this project possible and supported it.
"I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess" Donna Haraway, The Cyborg Manifesto
Reut Shemesh
Text 1: based on conversations from Reut Shemesh with
Hadar Alfasi
Text 2: Reut Shemesh, Hella Immler, Florian Patschovsky
Text 3: based on interviews with 10 orthodox and
secular women from hamburg, Israel, New York City and
family members
Text 4: Reut Shemesh
Concept, choreography, text, photography: Reut Shemesh
Creation, Performance: Hella Immler, Tsipora Nir, Florian Patschovsky
Composition, sound design: Simon Bauer
Dramaturgy: Matthias Quabbe
Mentoring: Anne Kersting
Video, stage, lighting: Ronni Shendar
Costume: Marie Siekmann
Financial management: transmissions GmbH
Production, Management: Sabina Stücker
Special thanks to: Hilla Shemesh Rathaus, Florian Egermann.
The research took place during the residency at K3 tanzplan Hamburg, co-produced by tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf.
A production of Reut Shemesh, K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg in cooperation with tanzhaus nrw.
Financed by: Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, Hamburgische Kulturstiftung, Kunststiftung NRW, Stiftung Zurückgeben, KunstSalon Stiftung / Step Up & RheinEnergie Stiftung.
Supported by: tanzfaktur köln, iDAS NRW, Machol Shalem Jerusalem.
b12 |||||||||||||| 2024 |||||||||||||| we are you ||||||||||||||