What happens to society when it is thrown off balance? Choreographers Kinsun Chan and Martin Zimmermann explore this question in Wonderful World, their first joint creation. The result of this first-rate collaboration is a visually unique work of art. The stage on which the performance takes place is unsteady, tilting with even the slightest movement and literally ripping the floor out from under the dancers’ feet. The stage is transformed into a symbol for our constantly changing world. Zimmermann and Chan’s Wonderful World is a surreal and abstract, yet also poetic discussion about patterns of human behaviour in extraordinary situations. While interacting with life-size puppets, the ensemble members of the Tanzkompanie Theater St. Gallen ask whom each puppet represents. The dancers risk falling with each step. However, the intrigue of danger prevails, and the dancers must start the daring balancing act over and over again from the beginning. Zimmermann and Chan’s work brings representatives from two different worlds together. Chan is an internationally renowned choreographer and stage and costume designer, who has directed the Tanzkompanie Theater St. Gallen since the 2019/2020 season. Martin Zimmermann is an important figure in the international contemporary dance and circus scene and winner of the Swiss Grand Award for the Performing Arts/Hans Reinhart Ring in 2021. The work combines two different artistic perspectives into an unforgettable evening of dance, which will open the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps in St. Gallen.
Credits
Choreography: Martin Zimmermann, Kinsun Chan
Concept and stage design: Martin Zimmermann
Music: Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Daniel Steffen
Costumes: Martin Zimmermann, Kinsun Chan
Light design: Christian Kass
Choreographic and artistic collaboration: Sandrine Cassini
Dramaturgy: Caroline Damaschke
Doll building: Interior decoration Theater St.Gallen
Machinery: Sandrine Cassini
Stage manager, extra, assistant: Noah Geistlich
Tourmanagement: Kinsun Chan, Theater St. Gallen
Lighting: Thomas Utzinger
Dressers: Maria Beck, Ana Galindo, Alma Greco, Lika Wagenseil
Stage manager: Mike Roscher
Stage technician: Holger Bruder
Tournee Ballett Training: Sandrine Cassini
Dancers: Tanzkompanie Theater St. Gallen –Pamela Campos, Mikaël Champs, Guang-Xuan Chen, Beatriz Coelho, Dustin Eliot, Swane Küpper, Mei-Yun Lu, Lorian Mader, Naiara Silva de Matos, Lena Obluska, Emily Pak Ho Yi, Piran Scott, Samuel Trachsel, Camille Zany, Minghao Zhao
Photos: Gregory Batardon, Caroline Minjolle
Set design construction:
The structure of the decor was built by Ingo Groher and the Schauspielhaus Zürich for the piece “Öper Öpis” created by Zimmermann & de Perrot in 2008.
Co-production: Theater St. Gallen and Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps
Supported by: Sophie and Karl Binding Foundation, Ostschweizer Stiftung für Musik und Theater
Premiere: 28 April 2022, Theater St.Gallen, opening night of the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps
Introductions/ follow-up talks:
May 4, 2022 Kurtheater Baden, introduction by Kinsun Chan and Martin Zimmermann May 20 & 21, 2022 Theater Winterthur, introduction by Kinsun Chan and Martin Zimmermann
Public dance training:
May 14, 2022 Theater Basel with the Ballet Theater Basel and the Dance Company Theater St.Gallen
Tour
2022
- St. Gallen CH 05.28 – 06.02 Theater St. Gallen Lokremise
- Winterthur CH 05.20 – 05.21 Theater Winterthur
- Bern CH 05.17 Dampfzentrale
- Basel CH 05.15 Theater Basel
- Delémont CH 05.10 Théâtre du Jura
- Sierre CH 05.07 Les Halles de Sierre
- Baden CH 05.04 Kurtheater Baden
- St. Gallen CH 04.29 – 05.01 Theater St. Gallen Lokremise
- St. Gallen CH 04.28 PREMIERE • Lokremise St. Gallen / Tanzfestival Steps
