“Berlin Wall Project” a contemporary dance event
Live Broadcast for Wallstories by Nejla Yatkin view here
This year we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall. The basic idea for the “Berlin Wall Project, ” which consists of a concert dance work “Wallstories”, a site specific dance “Dancing with the Berlin Wall” and a short dance film entitled “The Wall”is to reflect upon what the Wall and its removal meant to the Western world in its broadest sense. We forget this now but the Cold War constantly threatened to turn into a devastating atomic war. No place captured this reality more than Berlin, Germany – a divided city on the forefront of the battle between East and West. In the mid eighties, as a teenager in Berlin, I personally felt the threat of imminent conflict. This concern was an ever-present issue in conversations, meetings and demonstrations. This concern was also physically manifest in the form of the Wall, which both separated as well as divided East and West. Initially, as a child, you were always aware of it as it demarcated freedom from autocracy. Later, one simply learned to navigate around it.
Then, abruptly, the Wall came down. The world opened up. People, for the first time in decades, had a chance to communicate, to share, move and get to know each other, without feeling the oppressive threat. Being present during the fall and the celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate as well as “Checkpoint Charlie,” I still vividly remember the energy and hope that was present during the marching of thousands of East Berliners into West Berlin. Things continued to change after this point. Having been to Berlin last year, it was amazing to see how the presence of the Wall was altered. The East Side Gallery remained as a great celebratory creation. The Wall, the symbol of oppression and division, had been turned into a symbol of art and entertainment. There are many paintings on the East Side Gallery wall and on the West side, along the Canal, there is now a strip of dance clubs. These simultaneously embody and trivialize the history somehow.
Drawing upon these observations and experiences, the soul of this project concerns the acknowledgement that physical and political boundaries play an important role in an individual as well as a collective’s life. They are conventions that have been created, adapted, and/or devised by nature and/or humans. So too, are a wide variety of other boundaries. These boundaries can act as national and/or international assets, but they can also act as impediments that restrict or prohibit the flow of resources, commerce, or intellectual property, or barriers that isolate people and divide nations.
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Berlin Wall Rehearsal 3
Monday 29th, June 2009
Milan Kundera once wrote that “remembering is a form of forgetting.” This is so true regarding our memories and revisiting the past. I have been working on the Berlin Wall Project since last year. Some of my preparations included fundraising for the project, finding space...
Reflections By Melissa
Saturday 20th, June 2009
This week was our last rehearsal here in NYC and we are getting ready to go to Berlin for an intense rehearsal process and cultural exchange. As we are preparing for Berlin Melissa one of the Berlin Wall Project dancers shared her reflections on the process of the work as well as shared pictures taken by her mother Cheryl Brading.
Berlin Wall Rehearsal 2
Wednesday 17th, June 2009
It’s so interesting working on the Berlin Wall piece. Its like a time travel for me. A journey through a time tunnel. I suddenly remember moments that have been laying dormant in my consciousness for the last 20 years. I am working on Mother by Pink Floyd and this song is part of The Wall album.
Berlin Wall Rehearsal 4
Sunday 14th, June 2009
I love these moments when everything comes together. In 2007 I was in Berlin standing in the Potsdamer Platz and thinking that almost two decades ago I couldn’t do that. Two decades ago there was a Wall standing and this place was called “Nomansland.”...
Breaking down Walls and affectionate Relationships
Friday 5th, June 2009
This week as, I am building this new work to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I am also finding that I am standing in front of an invisible wall trying to get through my dancers. It’s challenging to try to create a work and try to go through the invisible wall that some of them have created: the wall of fear...
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