Every two years, Tanzhaus Zürich welcomes the touring festival TanzPlan Ost, which links current affairs with cultural policy. This year’s edition deals with the theme of the periphery and places society’s edges at centre stage for once.
tanzplan-ost.ch


Reut Shemesh
ATARA - For you, who has not yet found the one

Reut Shemesh’s choreographical works increasingly attract international attention, lastly with an invitation to show ATARA at Tanzplattform Deutschland 2020. She was also nominated by the magazine tanz as hope for the future during the 2018/19 season and the Cologne award for dance and theater 2016, which she received for LEVIAH (shown at TanzPlan Ost 2016). ATARA was produced in collaboration with dancer Hella Immler, herself a long-time member of the St. Gall Theatre dance company, Orthodox Jewish dancer Tzipora Nir, and performer Florian Patschovsky.

ATARA deals with femininity, especially female sexuality, and its place in society through the lens of orthodox and secular Jewish women. By reenacting situations she has witnessed in her own surroundings (Reut Shemesh grew up in a Jewish household that was both secular and Orthodox) and adding movement, pictures, and text, she creates an oscillating dialogue between the two perspectives. Stereotypes, preconceived notions, and one’s own lifestyle are equally called into question.

Concept, choreography, text, fotography Reut Shemesh
Creation Hella Immler, Tsipora Nir, Florian Patschovsky
Performance Hella Immler, Johanna Kasperowitsch, Florian Patschovsky
Dramatization Matthias Quabbe
Composition & sound design Simon Bauer
Video art, stage design, lighting design Ronni Shendar
Finances Béla Bisom
Production & management Sabina Stücker