A spectacular reunion is promised by Doris Uhlich, who, on the 10th anniversary of the groundbreaking piece more than naked, brings it back to the stage with her unforgettable cast, excessive sound and thrilling repertoire of movements.
One can especially look forward to the return of Cie. Marie Chouinard. The award-winning Canadian choreographer is expected in Vienna with her large group piece « M ». Apropos Canada: next year’s danceWEB mentor Clara Furey, who wowed the audience with Dog Rising at the Odeon last year, now dances herself in her grandiose trio. And dancer Angélique Willkie, who is coaching the 2023 further training programme ATLAS, presents the touchingly powerful, autofictional solo Confession Publique, choreographed by Mélanie Demers, awarded the Les Prix de la Danse de Montréal 2022.
ImPulsTanz 2023 premieres all of William Shakespeare’s comedies in one evening – in the inimitable version of the Belgian Needcompany, directed by Jan Lauwers. Further premieres are announced by two artists living in Vienna: Lau Lukkarila, together with Luca Bonamore, explores varieties of queer eroticism, promising not only musical but also romantic and excessive climaxes. Anne Juren and the French-Swedish choreographer Frédéric Gies develop brand-new solo works for each other – two dance portraits that focus on the question of the gaze in dance.
Boris Charmatz, the new artistic director of the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, joins the 40th anniversary of ImPulsTanz with his virtuoso solo SOMNOLE. The world-renowned and always sensually radical performer from South Africa, Steven Cohen, graces the festival with Boudoir. And Spanish-Swiss master La Ribot brings DIEstinguished to Vienna. In addition, talks are underway with William Kentridge, Lisbeth Gruwez, François Chaignaud and Trajal Harrell.
Alexander Vantournhout, one of the most successful Belgian dancers and choreographers of his generation, comes to Vienna’s stages for the first time. After hitting the scene last year with his New Circus workshops, one can look forward to his highly entertaining Pas de Deux Through the Grapevine – tangled limbs included.
Things also get acrobatic in the [8:tension] Young Choreographers’ Series. In FLIES, Renato Miskolczi and Abigail Aleksander, who both performed impressively in Philipp Gehmacher’s The Slowest Urgency at mumok in 2022, choreograph outdoors along the wall. Norwegian dancer and choreographer with Jamaican roots, Harald Beharie, is featured with his stunning piece Batty Bwoy. Many of the former [8:tension] artists have since embarked on highly successful careers and return to the festival with new works – most notably Samira Elagoz, who won the Silver Lion in Venice for the performance film work Seek Bromance. Or Lenio Kaklea with a new trio featuring a Greek-French cast. Αγρίμι (fauve) is inspired by the age-old energy of hunting. And Ofelia Jarl Ortega, Prix Jardin d'Europe winner 2018 from Sweden, presents her first impressive group choreography Bien y Mal on the big stage.
Parallel to the performance programme, ImPulsTanz invites visitors to the dance floors both during the day and at night: to more than 150 workshops and research projects, to the free outdoor dance classes Public Moves as well as to the music programme Soçial at the Festival Lounge. In addition, the education and training programmes danceWEB (mentor: Clara Furey, co-mentor: Lara Kramer, in dialogue with Caroline Monnet), ATLAS – create your dance trails (coach: Angélique Willkie together with Mélanie Demers) and ImPacT (mentor: Kerstin Kussmaul) are continued and the DanceAbility Teacher Training offered once again by Alito Alessi and Connie Vandarakis.
We are already looking forward to the anniversary edition!