DANCING DAYS MUNICH 2015
7. to 17. Mai 2015, daily 16:16 to 20:16 , Gasteig, Celibidache Forum
The ensemble of DANCING DAYS MUNICH 2015 is dancing daily:
Tereza Hradilková (Tschechien), Marie Lykkemark (Dänemark), Sabina Perry (Kanada), Michel Yang (USA), Douglas Batemann (Großbritannien), Yoann Boyer (Frankreich), Adam Ster (Ungarn), Martin Talaga (Slowakische Republik)
As well as dancers of the current Pilot-Projekt of Mia Lwarence im Bereich Performance-Training in Kooperation mit DANCE und Stefan Dreher:
Elsa Artman, Lisa Bless, Tim Crafti, Dominik Feistmantl, Alice Heyward, Quindell Orton, Christoph Viol, Taryn McGovern, Sarah Hedegaard, Pascale Becker
And students of the royal conservatory of Antwerp (from 14th Mai)
Zehra Proch, Zoé Leduc, Alma Martínez Foix
Idee, choreografisches Konzept, Probenleitung: Stefan Dreher
Dramaturgische Assistenz: Alexandra Karabelas
Artistic Coaching/Mentoring: Mia Lawrence
Sounddesign: Christoph Reiserer, Stefan Dreher
Kostüme: Akademie Mode & Design
Video: Dragan Dragin und Biljana Golubovic
Tereza Hradilková (Tschechien)
“I As A Dancer: I am not a dancer
Walking Man: Take a walk on the wild side
I decide: I decide to doubt constantly
Body and Trance: Feeling the body light and free.”
„I feel excited to perform and dance in such a long time for several days after each other. I never had the chanceto try something like that before and I like new challenges. I believe it will be enriching in the sense of getting to know better how does mine and others body work, and how to deal with our energy and inspiration in such extreme situation. Concerning the length and if the body will manage to dance for so long I hope it will not be a problem, since as a dancer I am used to rehearse all days in the studio. But of course a performance is not a rehearsal and most likely will be more tiring for the body and mind. I am pretty sure there will be new knowledge coming in through this new experience and I am looking forward to explore it!“
Marie Lykkemark (Dänemark)
„The social human being will support my walk”
„Ich war bereits Teil des ersten Tanzmarathons von Stefan Dreher 2013 in München. Es war eine sehr interessante und intensive Erfahrung für mich. Als ich in den Tanzmarathon hinein ging, fokussierte ich mich ganz auf meine inneren Bewegungen und darauf wie ich mich selbst dabei unterstützen konnte mich viele Stunden am Stück zu bewegen. Ich begriff dass die Menschen in diesem Projekt so wichtig dafür sind was für mich, uns und das Publikum als Erfahrung herauskommt. Während der vielen Stunden des Tanzmarathons verband ich mich mit allen Teilnehmern und fühlte die Unterstützung und die Energie aus jeder erdenklichen Richtung. Diese Erfahrung lehrte mich wie wichtig die Menschen um einen herum sind und wie uns die Gruppendynamik beeinflussen kann unsere Grenzen zu verschieben. Du erfährst: Du bist nicht allein“.
I was part of Stefan Dreher’s “Tanzmarathon – dancing days” in November 2013, which was a very interesting and intense experience for me.
This was a 24 hour project and I went into it with a complete focus on my inner movements and how I could support myself in the situation of moving for 24 hours. The day before the performance the dancers flew in and we had the chance to meet and at this point I realized that the people in this are so important for the outcome of my, our and the audience experience. Through these 24 hours I connected with all 20 of them and felt the support and energy from every direction. This experience taught me how important people are, how the group dynamic can influence and push your borders and never the less know that you are not alone”.
Sabina Perry (Kanada)
„Am Tanzmarathon mitzuarbeiten – diese Aussicht ist aufregend. Ich habe auf der einen Seite Angst davor; andererseits hat mich diese Idee eines Tanzmarathons immer sehr interessiert“.
„I As A Dancer am working on myself.
In this project I get to attempt to complete something extremely difficult.“
“I am very excited about the prospect of working on the Dance marathon.
On the one hand I have fears, about the pain, or trouble I may encounter over such a long period of dancing. On the other hand the idea of a marathon has always interested me, but running is not my main mode of movement, dance is. I am also intrigued by how/what it means to work in such a way for so long in front of an audience. This is the challenge and I am excited for it. It is like anything, you attempt to see it as a process, something which you will only be able to deal with incrementally as it comes”.
Michel Yang (USA)
„I As A Dancer signifies an identity that I identify with less and less as time goes on. Doing is believing.
What does “walking” imply? Walking (as well as Working) is unlike Digital in that a physical action takes place. An action that is not aided by any machine nor external power other than Man himself and his body. And Walking, unlike Working, points to no direction, no finality, no effort, nor aim for result. Walking is a movement to displace oneself. Where to? I do not know.I do not decide.
I think there are simply 3 factors in which I would like to frame the bodily experience: duration, continuous, movement That there is movement, that it is continuous, and that it is framed by an unusually long duration”.
Michel tanzte bereits begeistert 24 Stunden lang bei den „Dancing Days“ in München: „Ich denke es sind drei Faktoren mit denen ich Körpererfahrung insbesondere beim Tanzen der „Dancing Days“ begrifflich fassen kann: Dass es immer eine Bewegung gibt; dass die Dinge kontinuierlich ablaufen, und dass das alles von einem ungewöhnlich langen Zeitnahmen umfasst wird.“
Douglas Batemann (Großbritannien):
(photo by Joerg Letz)
„I As A Dancer enjoy dancing,
I decide together, with us, alone with you.
Body and Trance, enhance, enhance.
I’m excited and intrigued as to what will happen“.
Adam Ster (Ungarn) :
(photo by Almut Elhardt)
„Walking man – taking each step as it comes, sauntering along the pavement, one hand in the pocket, the other swinging beside….leisurely swaying on a Sunday afternoon, as the breeze fingers our hair.
I am very curious about how my body and mind will be coping with the
extensive performance period, I am sure it will be fun!
I decide – now! Body and trance – hand in hand”
Yoann Boyer (Frankreich):
I As A Dancer think, feel, eat, walk, move, make love, cry, laugh, feel pain, feel sad, feel depressed, feel bliss, sleep, cook, fall in love, fall in love again, feel, feel, feel, feel…
Body and Trance are instruments for an experience, what does body wants? 
I trust the body.
Walking Man is the base of Dancing Man, take a look on the dark side!
I feel mostly some curiosity about what such an extreme event may
generate and in which state will my physical, emotional and mental
bodies be I imagine it being a time to flirt with my own personal limits, and go beyond the idea of where my limits are, but rather feel them
Sometimes it is about letting go what we think we are able and capable of, and actually updating those thoughts with an actual experiencing of it.
When i connect to the marathon, i imagine that state of transe may occurs. Brains’ waves may be altered after being in such concentration and focus, the perception of the body through senses may be sublimated, like a meditation, an experience of pure presence, where the mind can calm down its stream of movement as it will be so concentrated”.
Martin Talaga (Slowakische Republik) 
„I as a Dancer is I as a Human.
Body and Trance is how it used to be when dance was part of all rituals.
I am personally very interested in „long duration“ performances, and I am always looking for new challanges for my body, so honestly I cannot wait to do that!”
Marie Nüzel
“I as a dancer often see people in the tube and I wonder wheather they know what they are missing. Like a feeling that ordinary life is just not sufficient.
„Dancing for 11 days might create something like a state of trance. The word „marathon“ implies for me actually more something competitive than artistic. How to deal with that? How to deal with the fact that you as aperformer have to catch someone’s attention, because they do not come directly only to see you and your performance?“
Walking men remind me of pinguins. Like swarms – all moving in the same direction without thinking”.
Alice Heyward
Regarding dancing a marathon in Munich for such a long time of 11 days:
I expect an intensive, intense and concentrated few weeks to ensue, spending a lot of time with people that I afterwards will not see so much. I think and feel that a dancing marathon is precisely what I require during this time – by launching into a long duration of performative experience and endurance, I can get access to the kind of rigour and specificity of focus that I like.
Dominik Feistmantl
11 days.
Performing, witnessing, connecting, inspiring.
Excitement, eagerness.
Sharing alertness for the moment, in the moment.
Choosing, every moment
again and again
the motion, the memory, muscle, skin
we are.
Tim Crafti
„I am grateful for this intensive time of shared embodied experience before me. To not be alone, at my computer, dreaming about dancing.
I As A Dancer: I have Split Personality Disorder: yes I’m a dancer, no I’m not a dancer.
Walking Man: Kabuki, Noh, and Butoh dancers train for years how to walk, but I like to walk hand in hand with my boyfriend from Japan.
I decide to do this today, and then this happens instead.
Body and Trance: I want to believe. I want to let go completely, believe I am safe to do so.“
Taryn McGovern
„I offer myself one foot ahead, or behind, and slide through the physical planes to enter a new perspective.
I am curious to feel the effects of dancing a marathon. Does it become a trance? A tedium? Does the duration of the performance, like a long travel, create a pocket of timelessness, in which the beginning and end– perhaps the only clear temporal markers– fade to abstract concepts? In these cases one can be happily tricked into accepting the potential infinity of the now. I wonder how this acceptance may function in the differing perspectives of spectator and performer, and thus how it will feel to step in and out of the dance.“
Sarah Hedegaard
Regarding the dance marathon I’m excited and worried. Excited because I do not really know what to expect. I am worried for the same reasons.
It is going to interesting have I will react on frustration and being exhausted in body and mind. I am prepared for drifting away, getting irritated and dealing with different emotions, but I will not know how to observe it instead of feeling it before I am in the situation.
Dancing man lost in trance.