In 1978, Gerhard Bohner and Reinhild Hoffmann became artistic directors of the Bremer Tanztheater (Bremen Dance Theatre). In the three years that followed, Bohner produced Die Dinge in meiner Hand (The Things in My Hand), Bilder einer Ausstellung (Pictures of an Exhibition) and Zwei Giraffen tanzen Tango (Two Giraffes Dance Tango), choreographies that avoid psychologically motivated roles and action in favour of highlighting the dramatic aspect of collages of individual scenes and images, linked together in an associative structure.
Bohner’s 1980 piece Zwei Giraffen tanzen Tango features scurrilous characters, Absurdist elements, a mix of reality and stage reality, and the slow pace characteristic of dance theatre, and which allows for the observation of details.
In his dance evening Zwei Giraffen tanzen Tango - Bremer Schritte (Two Giraffes Dance Tango – Bremen Steps) Helge Letonja, himself a former Bremer Ensemble dancer under Susanne Linke, used the historical template to take on and expand the principle of heterogeneous collages. Reconstructed passages from the original work were juxtaposed with his choreographic interpretation and thereby opened up new association spaces. Social codes and art from 35-year-old contexts engaged in a constructive interplay with contemporary dance aesthetics.
Concept/choreography – Gerhard Bohner (original), Helge Letonja
Dramaturgy – Anke Euler
Composition – Gerald Humel (original), Serge Weber
Stage – Rena Donsbach
Costumes – Katja Fritzsche
Dance – Kossi Sébastien Aholou-Wokawui, Dane Badal, Leila Bakhtali, Oh Chang Ik, Konan Dayot, Irene García Martínez, Mariko Koh, Magali Sander Fett, Médoune Seck and Stylianos Tsatsos
A production by the steptext dance project, in co-production with Theater Bremen. In co-operation with the German Dance Film Institute Bremen and with academic support from the Academy of Arts, Berlin. Supported by the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation.
JACQUELINE DAVENPORT
Born in England, Jacqueline Davenport trained in ballet at the Rambert School of Ballet and the Royal Ballet School in London. As a dancer at Mannheim National Theatre, Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt (Municipal Theatres Frankfurt) and Bremen Dance Theatre, she worked with various choreographers including Horst Müller, Todd Bolender, John Neumeier, Johann Kresnik, Reinhild Hoffmann and Gerhard Bohner. She has been ballet master at Bremer Theatre since 1986 and also works as a choreographer for Bavarian State Opera (Munich), La Munt-Monnai (Brussels), Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf), Graz Opera House, Hamburg State Opera, Osnabrück Municipal Theatre and National Theatre Mannheim.
MARGARETE HUGGENBERGER
Born in Switzerland, Margaret Huggenberger completed her dance training in Zurich and Paris, and at the Hungarian State Ballet Institute in Budapest. Engagements followed at municipal theatres in Heidelberg and Wuppertal, and at the Salzburg Festival. At Bremen Theatre, she danced for Johann Kresnik, Susanne Linke and Urs Dietrich. She also worked at Bremen Theatre as artistic assistant, deputy training director and stage manager for Reinhild Hoffmann and Gerhard Bohner. Guest engagements for Kresnik took her to the Volksbühne in Berlin, the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and Cologne Theatre.
