I want to smell my body again! A large glass box stands in the center of the stage, the body of performer and choreographer Doris Uhlich slowly emerges through the dense fog. In TANK, the audience embarks on a captivating, almost cinematic exploration of the body as a field of experimentation and its modification by new technologies, through chains of cinematic, robotic, biotechnological and medical associations. The tank on stage, built by the Berlin collective Proper Space, evokes images of familiar science fiction motifs such as that of the Test Tube Girls from the 1950s and films like Alien: Resurrection. Here the tank appears again and again as a scenic arrangement of body modifications and usually stands for the isolation of unknown and dangerous life forms. In Doris Uhlich’s solo performance the tank advances to a place of study and testing of body transformations, resistances and technological promises of happiness.
Doris Uhlich (*1977 in Upper Austria) studied at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna. Since 2006 she has been developing multiple award-winning projects. With her productions she questions common formats and body images: she works with people with different biographies and physical inscriptions, questions classical ballet in terms of its translatability into contemporary contexts, opens the dance floor for people with physical disabilities, shows the potentials of nudity beyond simple eroticization and provocation, examines the relationship between man and machine in a multi-layered way or deals with the future of the human body in the age of its surgical and genetic perfection. Music – especially electronic dance music from new wave to techno – plays an important role in this. www.dorisuhlich.at
CONCEPT Doris Uhlich, Boris Kopeinig CHOREOGRAPHY, PERFORMANCE Doris Uhlich DRAMATURGICAL COOPERATION Adam Czirak, Yoshie Maruoka DJ Boris Kopeinig TEXT Boris Kopeinig, Doris Uhlich Tank Proper Space (Angela Ribera, Konstanze Grotkopp, Juliette Collas) LIGHTING Sergio Pessanha TECHNICAL SUPPORT Gerald Pappenberger PRODUCTION Margot Wehinger International Distribution Something Great Thanks to Karin Harrasser, Marian Kaiser
A production by Doris Uhlich in co-production with tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, ImPulsTanz Wien, brut Wien and insert Tanz und Performance GmbH. Supported by the Cultural Department of the City of Vienna and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport. The guest performance as part of the Coming of Age Festival is made possible with funds from the Capital Cultural Fund. Media partner: Berlin Art Link, taz.die tageszeitung, tipBerlin