18 apr 2015 PACT Zollverein, Essen
23+24 apr 2015 Generatorenhalle Viersen, Städtische Galerie im Park, Viersen. In the course of tanz nrw 15

In the course of tanz nrw 15 two space-specifically produced editions of the stage work The dernier cri offer a comprehensive insight into the research work. The cyclical work The dernier cri is a sonorous, ornamental choreography with eight dancers, in which space is examined and the boundaries between the genres are strained over and over. The comprehensive choreographic moment includes movement, body, objects and sound in the same capacities.

The third edition of The dernier cri follows up the second edition, which was performed at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. The experience of the different dynamics of observing and moving made in the spaces of the White Cube are now to be bundled and transferred back onto the stage in this third edition.

The fourth edition of The dernier cri is specifically designed for the Generatorenhalle Viersen. Commenced in the spring of 2015, the intense engagement with different physicalities and their objectness as well as the extended spectrum of body images and their related aesthetic sentiments is continued in this fourth version and is thereby examined thoroughly. After the previous performances at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus/Central, the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and PACT Zollverein Essen as a stage- and museum version, the Generatorenhalle in Viersen now serves as the performance location. The location, an impressive, ample space in an art nouveau building that is neither theater nor White Cube, as well as the chairless, free setting give the audience the possibility to individually choose between closeness and distance. Still, it is clearly designed as an explicitly continuous dramaturgy as opposed to a performative installation. In addition to the setting, the lighting situation plays a significant role. Through the large glass windows in the Generatorenhalle, natural light enters. In the course of the evening, the lighting mood changes and culminates at dusk, where the room is flooded by golden yellow rays of light, until the street lights outside are the only source of light. This space which cannot be assigned a clear purpose thereby becomes a central player in the creation of a tableau of bodily objects.

An additive exhibition at the Städtischen Galerie im Park in Viersen with an installative version in the shape of photographic and installative works further illustrates the significant processuality, as well as the central (genre-)boundary transgressing manner of work.

Direction, Choreography: Ben J. Riepe
With: Lenah Flaig, Simon Hartmann, Jbid Hatschaduryan, Rosabel Huguet, Sudeep Kumar Puthiyaparambath, Daniel Ernesto Müller Torres, Kathrina Wilke, Danilo Tesi
Composition: Timo Kreuser 
Costume: Anna Kleihues, Ben J. Riepe 
Technical direction: Dimitar Evtimov 
Guests: Tanja Berg, Flora Ersig, Kyungwoo Kwon, Fang Yun Lo
Photos: Ursula Kaufmann

The dernier cri is a production of Ben J. Riepe on the occasion of the 25 year anniversary of Kunststiftung NRW, co-produced by PACT Zollverein Essen, in cooperation with Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. Funded by Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kunststiftung NRW, Kulturamt der Landeshaupstadt Düsseldorf and Kunst- und Kulturstiftung der Sparkasse Düsseldorf. Supported by Goethe-Institute/Max Mueller Bhavan. The fourth edition of The dernier cri is a cooperation with Kulturabteilung der Stadt Viersen in the course of tanz nrw 15.