RAIMUND HOGHE (DE)
08.11.2013 / 20:00 / WASP

Concept, choreography & set: Raimund Hoghe;
Dancers: Raimund Hoghe, Takashi Ueno;
Artistic collaboration: Luca Giacomo Schulte;
Light: Raimund Hoghe, Arno Truschinski;
Sound: Frank Strätker;
Production: Company Raimund Hoghe (Düsseldorf – Paris);
Co-production: Theater im Pumpenhaus (Münster), Théâtre Garonne (Toulouse), Féstival d’Automne à Paris;
Supported by: Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes NRW, Kulturamt der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, FIAF Crossing the line (New York), The Baryshnikov Arts Centre (New York), Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Montpellier Danse, résidence à l’Agora, Cité internationale de la danse

A term emblematic of 19th-century virtuoso classical dance, the pas de deux, danced by couples, is the crowning moment in classical ballet. Raimund Hoghe’s Pas de Deux with Takashi Ueno is, in its own way, virtuosic. The hand and arm movements— bold up and down strokes tracing words in the air — can be seen to represent an anthology of dance, beautifully encapsulating the art form’s array of gestures. The two dancers move together in isolation, subtly revealing their worlds.

Pas de Deux presents a dialogue between the two dancers: a conversation about the ways in which they are similar and the ways in which they differ; an investigation into the structure of the (danced) relationship between two people. Hoghe and Ueno explore who they are and where their interaction might lead. Doubling and difference, symmetry and discordance, similarities and uniqueness: these are the various stages they go through on their common journey.