New: Sasha Waltz & Guests: Berlin-Based Dance Group Takes Berkeley by Storm
As part of Cal Performances Berkeley RADICAL 2018/19 season, a special series entitled Women’s Work focuses on the cultural expression of women artists. This past week, German choreographer Sasha Waltz has come to Berkleley to revive her revolutionary 2000 staging of Körper, which premiered at Berlin’s Schaubühne Theater. Here in Berkeley, Körper received two performances at Zellerbach Hall: Saturday, October 20 at 8:00 and Sunday, October 21 at 3:00. Sasha Waltz also gave a talk on Thursday, October 18 at Stephens Hall on the UC campus. In this talk, emceed by Sabrina Klein, Sasha Waltz spoke at length about the genesis of Körper. Interestingly, this work grew out of an earlier project focused on architect Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin. Before the Jewish Museum was even open to the public, Sasha Waltz was asked to produce a dance event inside the new museum. According to Sasha Waltz, what struck her most about Libeskind’s revolutionary architecture was the existence of a central void. In response to this void, Sasha Waltz created the choreography for a solo dancer, which was performed in the central void of the Jewish Museum in 1999. (The Jewish Museum in Berlin only opened to the public in 2001.) -more-
