A REMIXED DANCE TRIBUTE TO FOOTBALL
TANZTHEATER BIELEFELD (2006)
ChoreographyJo Strømgren
StagingNiklas Gundersen
MusicJörgen Knudsen, Flugschädel
Stage & Costume DesignFriederike Hölscher, Jo Strømgren
PerformersMirko Guido / Tiago Manquinho, Dirk Kazmierczak, Michael Loehr, Roberto Morales
ProductionTheater Bielefeld
World Premiere06 May 2006 – Theaterlabor im Tor 6, Bielefeld, Germany
Total Number of Performances9
Original Production
A DANCE TRIBUTE TO THE ART OF FOOTBALL
ProductionJo Strømgren Kompani
Supported by the Arts Council Norway, Norsk Kassettavgiftsfond, The Norwegian Foundation for Performing Artists, Oslo City Council, Bergen City Council, The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Ministry of Culture and Equality, Danse- og teatersentrum / Performing Arts Hub, The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing
World Premiere05 February 1998 – BIT Teatergarasjen, Bergen, Norway
Awards Norwegian Critics Award 1998 – Official Scandinavian Selection for the Prix Bagnolet 1998 – IFMC Honorary Diploma, Vitebsk 2012 – Cuban Critics Award, Premio Villanueva 2012
PhotographyGert Weigelt
[Jo Strømgrens] "Remixed Dance Tribute to Football," the shortened version of a production first premiered in 1996, had a wildly celebrated premiere on Saturday evening. [...] The five players performed a fast-paced field ballet, accompanied by stadium chants from invisible stands, including warm-up exercises, virtuoso kicking with an imaginary ball, and a slightly excessive jersey exchange, culminating in a cooling off under the spotlight.
Celebratory pirouettes, goal-line conga lines, and nasty fouls on the Bielefeld theater stage.. [...] Everyone wants to keep it for themselves, the ball. It's absent in reality, yet somehow always present. Jo Strømgren decodes the "language" of men on the playing field. What may seem silly in one moment, sometimes brutal, infantile, or macho, still has its own beauty in the movement. The dancers are masters—and sometimes, so are the players on the field.