A dancer, an artist and a musician meet. They search for the smallest common denominator and thus find the greatest common multiple. They fall into each other, move each other, create order. Where the chaos becomes too dense, and chaos where the order that happens threatens to freeze. Together they create a microcosm in the macrocosm. One time they appear as accomplices, another time as opponents in a game between passion and stubbornness, always in search of that very moment that might be able to change everything. So they play with each other, against each other and sometimes for each other, exchanging experiences, condensing them and releasing them freely into the world of associations, into the world of options. Above the stage the musician hovers, slightly shifted backwards. On his six turntables he develops complex worlds of music and sound, from which he reacts to the dancers and at the same time follows the dramaturgy of the event together with them. With great precision and sometimes breathtaking speeds, Gopf’s protagonists create different worlds: one time life seems like a prison, another time like a dream, or even as a humorous unmasking of small egomaniacal longings and vanities. In the “battle” with their stage – three Bauhaus-inspired ,flexible wooden walls – they condense the individual stories, repeat figures, change them, add new and unexpected ones: the walls turn, close or fall to the ground; here they stand in the way and there they are vehemently shifted, as if they too were actors. Gopf is a poetic huis-clos that combines the tradition of theatrical expression, dance, circus, music and architecture to create a contemporary piece of timelessness: His melancholy embarrasses and at the same time enchants when the audience looks at the stage like a mirror and sees itself in it.
Credits
Direction and choreography: Gregor Metzger, Martin Zimmermann
Music composition: Dimitri de Perrot
Set design: Martin Zimmermann
Lighting design: Christophe Botiaux
Costumes: Franziska Born
Sound: Andy Nehresheimer
Photography: Mario del Curto
Production: MZdP
With the support of: Ville de Zürich • Pro Helvetia • Migros Pour Cent Culturel • Societe Suisse des Auteurs • Nestlé Fondation pour I’Art • Fondation Stanley Thomas Johnson • Fondation Lis & Roman Clemens • Fondation Oertli
Premiere: 17 June 1999, Blauersaal à Zürich
Tour
2005
- Steckborn CH 09.29 – 09.30 Phönix-Theater 81
- Villach A 06.13 – 06.14 Internationales Theaterfestival Spectrum 2005 Neuebühne
- Lyon F 04.01 – 04.03 Les Subsistances
- Reims F 03.10 – 03.11 Le Manège de Reims – Scène Nationale
2004
- Bruxelles B 11.15 – 11.16 Les Halles de Schaerbeek
- Verscio CH 10.05 – 10.06 Teatro Dimitri
- Paris F 06.03 – 06.06 Grande Halle de la Villette
- Zürich CH 01.20 – 01.21 Schauspielhaus Zürich – Schiffbau
2003
- Annecy F 05.06 – 05.07 Bonlieu – Scène Nationale
- St Jean de Védas F 03.28 – 03.30 Le Chai du Terrail
- Bar-le-Duc F 03.14 L’abc – Scène Nationale
2002
- Langres F 12.03 Théâtre de Langres
- Elancourt F 11.15 – 11.16 Ile de danse Opera & Ballet – Le Prisme
- Brétigny-sur-Orge F 11.11 – 11.12 Ile de danse Opera & Ballet – Espace Jules Verne
- Epernay F 10.18 Le Salmanazar
- Düsseldorf D 10.03 – 10.04 Tanz Haus NRW
- Pesinok CZ 06.28 – 06.29 Festival Cibulak
- Prag CZ 06.20 – 06.21 Akropolis
- Saarbrücken D 05.21 – 05.22 Le Carreau – Forbach
- Zürich CH 03.11 – 03.12 Blickfelder Festival – Rote Fabrik
2001
- St Jean de Védas F 12.08 – 12.10 Théâtre du Chai du Terral
- Lucerne CH 11.21 – 11.24 Luzerner Theater – BOA
- Den Haag NL 11.15 – 11.17 Holland Dance Festival
- Mont St Aignan F 03.15 – 03.16 Centre d’Art et d’Essai
- Schaan LI 02.13 – 02.15 Theater am Kirchplatz
- Zürich CH 02.01 – 02.03 Theaterhaus Gessnerallee
- Lausanne CH 01.19 – 01.27 Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne
2000
- Nice F 12.06 – 12.09 Théâtre National de Nice
- Montreuil F 11.22 – 11.26 Centre Dramatique National de Montreuil
- Neuchâtel CH 11.19 Neuchâtel Dance Festival – Théâtre du Passage
- Quimper F 11.16 Mettre En Scène – Théâtre de Conouaille
- Rennes F 11.13 – 11.14 Mettre En Scène – Théâtre Nationale de Bretagne
- Antwerpen B 10.31 – 11.04 De Singel
- Décines F 10.13 – 10.14 Le Toboggan
- Geneve CH 10.10 – 06.11 Théâtre Forum Meyrin
- Marne-La-Vallée F 10.07 – 10.08 La Ferme du Buisson scène nationale de Marne-la-Vallée
- Belgrade RS 09.25 – 09.26 BITEF – Belgrade International Festival
- Cairo EG 09.04 – 09.05 Cairo International Festival for Experimental Théâtre
- Brescia I 07.28 – 07.29 Festival Gardadanza – Arena Castello
- Dijon F 05.26 – 05.27 Théâtre National Dijon Bourgogne
- Torun PL 05.22 – 05.23 Kontakt Intenational Theater Festival
- Bienne CH 05.15 – 05.16 Centre Pasqu’Art
- Harare ZW 04.26 – 04.27 HIFA – Harare International Festival of Arts
- Guguletu SA 04.14 Dance Center
- Cape Town SA 04.13 – 04.14 Little Theater
- Soweto SA 04.09 Uncle Tom’s Community Center
- Johannesburg SA 04.07 – 04.08 Dance Factory
- Basel CH 03.09 – 03.12 Kaserne Basel
- Bern CH 01.19 – 01.27 Schlachthaus
- Lucerne CH 01.13 Luzerner Theater
1999
- Prag CZ 11.27 Alfred Dvôre
- Mont St Aignan F 11.19 Centre d’Art et d’Essai et de Création
- Winterthur CH 10.30 Theater am Gleis
- Lucerne CH 10.01 – 10.02 Théâtre La Fourmi
- Düsseldorf D 09.22 – 09.25 Neuertanz Tanzhaus NRW
- Nyon CH 09.18 – 08.19 Festival des Arts Vivants – Théâtre de l’Usine
- Zürich CH 06.17 – 07.03 Blauer Saal – Löwenbräu Areal