Behind the Scenes
Interview with Patrick Grigo
05.05.2024
Patrick Grigo is a coach and dance teacher for urban dances and has been a professional dancer in the field of urban dance for over 25 years. He has been part of the Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden team for 10 years in the educational projects and is back in 2024 as part of "Mein TraumRaum".
Project week of the 3rd classes
03.05.2024
After a successful project week within «Mein TraumRaum» with the 3rd classes of the primary school in Gränichen, a big final show took place and more than 300 parents and siblings of the approximately 80 participating children were amazed and applauded loudly after each performance.
Stage Design
05.02.2024
In numerous workshops, the students also create the stage design for the six performances. Shadow is an important theme in this regard.
Kick-Off
22.01.2024
At the beginning of the project, all participants of 'Mein TraumRaum' met in the gymnasium.
«Mein TraumRaum»
15.01.2024
The art education project 'Mein TraumRaum' has started! This year 200 school kids from Schule Gränichen will be part of it! Stay tuned!
Rehearsal
04.05.2023
For almost a month, the ensemble has been rehearsing at the Residenzzentrum tanz+ under the direction of Filipe Portugal and Salomé Martins. In the video you can see a small part of their rehearsal process.
Ruth Maria Obrist
29.03.2023
Ruth Maria Obrist from Baden is the creator of this year's art installation. She already created the stage design for the international dance production "babel.torre viva" in 2013.
Small Insight
29.03.2023
The rehearsal process for "Heimlich seufzen die Winde" began this month at the Residenzzentrum tanz+. The picture shows Dominic Harrison and Eleanor Freeman, who are both part of this year's ensemble.
The String Quintet
15.11.2022
The string quintet under the direction of violinist Ladia Alberdi also joined us for the first rehearsals. The quintet consists of Mihai Ilea (violin), Lina Karam Dor Abadi (violin), Vera Pritchina (cello), Marko Hristoskov (double bass).
Insights
14.11.2022
Insights into the first rehearsals at the Residenzzentrum tanz+ for the upcoming festival.
First Rehearsals
12.11.2022
The first rehearsals also included the string quintet conducted by violinist Laida Alberdi. However, the official rehearsal process is scheduled to begin in March 2023.
Choreographer Filipe Portugal
11.11.2022
The Portuguese-Swiss choreographer Filipe Portugal, formerly a soloist with the Ballett Zürich, is working with an international dance ensemble as well as a string quintet and singer to create a Gesamtkunstwerk for the monastery church Königsfelden. Shown here in the photo with artistic director Brigitta Luisa Merki.
Rehearsal Start
10.11.2022
The first rehearsals for the 2023 festival production have begun. For a fortnight, five of the ten dancers are rehearsing together with choreographer Filipe Portugal at the Residenzzentrum tanz+ in Baden.
Premiere
09.06.2022
Over 100 young people from the Tannegg and Ländli schools in Baden celebrated the premiere of «Gib mir die Hand» on 9 June 2022. The performances can be seen in the Königsfelden monastery church of the Museum Aargau until 14 June 2022!
Give me your Hand!
02.06.2022
The students of the University of the Arts ZHDK build the last stage elements! You can look forward to an exciting stage design!
Let's Go!
30.05.2022
Before the last rehearsals at the end of the week, all the individual parts are put together in the gymnasium. The tension is rising!
Last Rehearsals
27.05.2022
Now the last rehearsals are beginning before the premiere, which are going to take place on 9 June 2022 in the Königsfelden monastery church. Dancer Valentina Pedica is now combining all the elements into the final choreography.
Sign Language
02.05.2022
Since January, the pupils have been learning the basics of sign language in the educational art project «Gib mir die Hand». Yasemin Özdemir, sign language specialist, has been practising diligently with them - today Andrin Siebenhaar, himself deaf, visited us and communicated with the pupils in signs!
Breakdance
05.04.2022
Rehearsals in the studios of the Residenzzentrum tanz+! The students are visibly having a good time in the hip-hop workshop. Photo: Alex Spichale
Filming
15.03.2022
The topic of hands accompanies the students throughout the project. The film footage of hands is used for video projections during the performances in the Königsfelden monastery church.
Valentina Pedica
14.03.2022
Dancer Valentina Pedica is preparing for the next workshop. There are still a few weeks until the performances - but the students are already making great progress.
Tele M1
14.03.2022
TV channel Tele M visited us right at the beginning of our project week and recorded various impressions of all the workshops on video. Watch the finished TV report here.
Sound Recordings
14.03.2022
When the classroom becomes a recording studio: Composer, producer and performer Bálint Dobozi creates compositions with sound recordings of the pupils, which will be part of the production.
Wooden Instruments
14.03.2022
Serge Lunin, lecturer in three-dimensional design at the Zurich University of the Arts, builds wooden instruments with the students, which are also part of the performances. As a trained carpenter, he particularly enjoys working in the workshops.
Stage Elements
08.03.2022
The students of the Zurich University of the Arts (Art Education programme) are working together with the pupils to create stage elements and musical instruments for the piece «Gib mir die Hand».
Film Recordings
02.03.2022
Artist and video technician Micha Bietenhader works with the pupils on film recordings for the dance and art project «Gib mir die Hand».
Move Too Hot
28.02.2022
This week, the young dance group "Move Too Hot" from Germany visits us. Whether hip-hop, breaking, house, locking, popping or socials - it doesn't matter to the dancers! They like to move to the music, feel the groove and know how to express themselves. Together with Patrick Grigo, they teach the students the moves.
Sketches for Film Shoots
23.02.2022
Video artist Morena Barra works with the students on sketches for film recordings. These flow into the interdisciplinary dance and art production.
Workshop with Valentina Pedica
17.02.2022
Valentina Pedica is already involved in the educational art project for the second time. She enjoys working with the pupils of Baden's Ländli and Tannegg schools and the little dancers make great progress from workshop to workshop.
Talking Hands
09.02.2022
Yasemin Özdemir, specialist sign language, teaches the students the basic elements in specially created workshops. These basics will also be incorporated into the choreography.
Sign Language
09.02.2022
Insights into the sign language workshop with Yasemin Özdemir. In 2018, she completed her training as a sign language specialist FAGS at the Interkantonalen Hochschule für Heilpädagogik HfH und Schweizerischer Gehörlosenbund SGB-FSS. She works as a teaching assistant at the Zentrum für Gehör und Sprache.
Learning Sign Language
17.01.2022
Yasemin Özdemir teaches the students the finger alphabet for the first time. With special masks that have a transparent frame, it is also possible to communicate in sign language.
Sign Language
17.01.2022
In addition to the workshops in the various art forms such as dance, film and stage design, the students are also introduced to basic elements of sign language, which are incorporated into the performance. Yasemin Özdemir visits the pupils throughout the project. The message in the video: Today the dance project started in Baden, Kanton Aargau. In this project dance, theatre and sign language come together.
Baby Freeze
17.01.2022
Impressions from the dance lessons with the 5th and 6th grade of the school Ländli in Baden.
First Dance Lessons
10.01.2022
On 10 January 2022, the first hip-hop lessons took place with pupils from Baden's Ländli and Tannegg schools. Patrick Grigo, multiple world and European champion in hip-hop and breakdance (associations: ESDU, IDC, WCOPA) and national trainer of the Austrian Breaking National Squad worked on the choreography with the pupils for half a year. More about the educational art project "Gib mir die Hand" here!
The show must go on
The workplace of Amadis Brugnoni: He is a freelance FOH engineer working with touring artists and in music theater shows. His musical areas of activity range from rock/pop to jazz/world to classical music. He has been working for our productions for many years.
Rehearsal
Shortly before the shows, they practice again - the musicians work with the sound technician on the finishing touches and the dancers warm up for the big performance. Photo by Amadis Brugnoni
The premiere will soon take place!
The last rehearsals before the premiere on 28 May will take place in the Königsfelden Monastery Church in Windisch. Be excited!
Ballett shoes from Bloch
Valentina Pedica prepares her Bloch ballet shoes for the performances. We thank Ballet Shop Zug for the great cooperation!
Preparations in the monastery church
Rehearsals start today in the Königsfelden monastery church! The stage is already set - we hope that performances can take place from June with up to 100 guests.
Love poetry by Judith Keller
Love and nostalgia - write us a poem and send it to pr_at_tanzundkunst.ch! We select the three most beautiful love poems and publish them on our social media. The Swiss writer Judith Keller wrote this poem exclusively for us.
Poster
Have you already seen our ad? Our posters are in Zurich, Bern, Baden and the surrounding area.
Fran Kovacic
The Croatian began his dance career in 2009 in Zagreb at the "Škola za balet i ritmiku" and completed his master's degree at the Academy of Dance of the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim.
At the ballet gala of the Birgit Keil dance foundation in 2018, Fran Kovacic performed “Soirée Musicales” by Kenneth Macmillan. The following year the play was performed at the Badisches Staatstheater in Karlsruhe. Fran Kovacic won 3rd place in the “Ballet Competition Mia Čorak Slavenska”. From 2012 to 2018 he danced in Derek Deane's “The Nutcracker” at the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. During this time numerous engagements took place at the “Hungarian Dance Academy” in Budapest and at the “Škola za klasični balet” in Zagreb.
Sara Penella
The Italian dancer Sara Pennella completed her dance studies at the Balletto di Toscana in Florence in 2009 and then danced in the Compagnia Giovanile Junior Balletto di Toscana and the Compagnia Giovane Balletto Mediterraneo. From 2012 to 2014 was Sara a member of the Oniin Dance Company and toured worldwide. In the following years she worked as a freelance dancer with the Samady Dance Company, Artemis Danza and in 2015 and 2019 for tanz & kunst Koenigsfelden in SIBIL.LA and IKARUS, fly or die. She has been a member of the performing arts company NoGravity since 2018.
Photographer Alex Spichale
Alex Spichale taking pictures of our dancers at the residency centre tanz+.
Kaleidoscope String Quartet
The Kaleidoscope String Quartet's consistently chosen path of music-making without blinkers leads them into musical realms in which genre classifications become obsolete. The musicians, trained in jazz and classical music, find their own sound language through the string quartet, the supreme discipline of classical music, which explores musical boundaries and always seeks points of connection to other genres. Listen here to "Introspection".
Insights into the rehearsal process
The international dance ensemble is preparing for the premiere on 28.05.2021 in the Königsfelden Monastery Church.
In The Monastery Church Königsfelden
Artistic director Brigitta Luisa Merki introduced the staff of the Königsfelden Monastery Church to the play "Sei Nacht zu mir". She talked about the inspirations and ideas behind the production. The title of the choreography is borrowed from a love poem by the German-Iranian writer SAID. ("Sei Nacht zu mir" "Liebesgedichte" Verlag C.H.Beck). In this project, the great longing for closeness and encounter finds expression in the poetic pas de deux of dance and music.
"OPEN" Making-Of
The cultural institutions in Kurtheater Baden, ThiK - Theater im Kornhaus, STERK CINE AG and the residency centre tanz +/Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden have initiated their own short film project OPEN for public spaces. OPEN is in cooperation with various shops in and around Baden. The videos will be shown in public spaces.
Interview Claudio Costantino
Claudio Costantino began his dance education at the Maison d'Art in Catanzaro and continued it in Florence at the Balletto di Toscana. From 2004 to 2008 he delighted the audience with the company Junior Balletto di Toscana. Until 2012 he worked with the Basel Ballet under the artistic direction of Richard Wherlock. This was followed by an engagement at the theatre in Regensburg. He danced choreographies by Johan Inger, Jiri Kylian, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, Stephan Toss, Rami Be'er, Fabrizio Monteverde, Christopher Bruce, Jorma Elo, Yuko Mori and Shumpei Nemoto. Since 2014 he works as a freelance artist.
Valentina Pedica
Valentina Pedica was born in Fabriano, Italy. She studied dance at the IDA Ballet Academy in Ravenna and completed her ballet and contemporary studies in Madrid at the Real Conservatorio Profesional de Danza Mariemma. After master studies throughout Europe, she became a member of the Celli Contemporary Ballet in Rome in 2012. In 2013 Valentina wins the 1st prize at the Spoleo International Dance Competition. In the dance film "Motion Games" by Lucas van Woerkum and Ruben Van Leer (NL) she performs in the choreography of Lukas Timulak (Nederlands Dans Theater). Since 2013 she has been a dancer at Dantzaz Konpainia and has worked with renowned choreographers such as Itzik Galili, Lukas Timulak and Jacek Przybylowicz.
Costume design
Costume designer Carmen Perez has been working closely with artistic director Brigitta Luisa Merki for many years. For the production "Sei Nacht zu mir", she has come all the way from Spain to accompany the rehearsals live. This means that changes and adjustments can be made directly in the training sessions.
The Performances Are Approaching
From 28 May to 27 June, from Wednesday to Sunday, the performances of "Sei Nacht zu mir" will take place in the Königsfelden Monastery Church. Until then, rehearsals will continue diligently at the residency centre tanz+ in Baden.
Interview Antonia Somera
Canadian dancer Antonio Somera tells us in a short portrait what he particularly likes about working for the current production. In Canada, Antonio interprets works for choreographers and companies such as Julie Chapple/Future Leisure, Alvin Erasga Tolentino/Co.ERASGA, Dancers Dancing, The Response Dance Company and OURO Collective.
Love Poems
The title is from a love poem by the German-Iranian writer SAID. Be night to me! Poetry book "Liebesgedichte" with the kind permission of the publisher C.H.Beck. These inspirations flow into the choreography.
The Longing
In the latest project, the longing for closeness and encounter finds expression in the poetic pas de deux of dance and music. Dancers and musicians find a multiform of mutual dialogues in the sign of the night.
Residency centre tanz+
The residency centre tanz+ is interdisciplinary and offers both professionals and semi-professionals a platform for research, workshops or rehearsals up to the finished piece. In addition to the newly renovated studios, a large guest house in Baden is also part of the offer.
International Dance Ensemble
In these uncertain times, the dancers are especially happy to be able to work again! They rehearse together in the studios of the Residenzzentrum tanz+ and live together in the guest house. All participating artists get tested twice a week and comply with the Corona measures.
Intensive Training
Marlúcia do Amaral received the German Theatre Award "Der Faust" in the category "Performer Dance" in November 2019 for her impressive interpretation of Odette in Martin Schläpfer's "Swan Lake". She is rehearsing with Claudio Costantino for the performances in May and June 2021.
Our Dance Ensemble Is Complete
We are happy to announce that our dance ensemble is complete! They have travelled to Baden from Canada, Australia, England, Spain and Italy to rehearse for the dance production "Sei Nacht zu mir". Trainings are now taking place daily in the premises of the residence centre tanz+.
Residency Centre tanz+
It is with great pleasure that we open the residency centre tanz+ in Baden in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. The residency centre tanz+ serves to promote professional dance creation as well as the diversity of different dance disciplines and the networking and mediation of local and international groups. tanz+ places a high value on the artistic process. With its comprehensive offer, the residency centre represents the art form of dance in all its diversity. It offers space for interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary productions in dance, music and art.
Detailed information can be found here!
Reminisce about the last production
The last international dance production "Ikarus – stirb oder flieg" took place in summer 2019. In this piece, the tragic Icarus flight from Greek myth found its way into the sacred space. An international ensemble of 13 dancers and 8 musicians followed the longing and rapture of the visionary flight to the sun and reinterpreted the myth. This photo was taken during the dance rehearsals. © Alex Spichale
Kaleidoscope String Quartet
We hope you had a good start into the new year and can look into the future with new energy. When it is cold and gray outside, music helps against the eternal melancholy. The Kaleidoscope String Quartet will take you away from everyday life for a moment with their sounds.
Song "Gospodine Marquis".
Behind the scenes
In times of Corona, everything is a little different - despite the circumstances, we have not lost the joy in our work! Choreographer Remus Şucheană and dancer Marlúcia do Amaral at the photo shoot for the poster of the new international dance project "Sei Nacht zu mir!".
Inspirations
Night is the time of exstasy. It holds the secret of a world of evocation of love and hope - a world in which man's longing seeks redemption. The nocturnal roots reach deep into the creative symbolic world of human longing. In love poetry, the meeting of lovers often takes place under the sign of the night and the moon. Strongly inspired by the words of the German-Iranian writer SAID, a sensual production awaits you in summer 2021.
Venue Königsfelden Monastery Church
At the centre of Tanz & Kunst Königsfelden is the basic idea of creating interdisciplinary productions "for the place and from the place". The artistic works of art with a focus on dance are conceived and choreographed especially for the special venue and its immediate surroundings. "Seit Nacht zu mir!" will be performed at the Königsfelden Monastery Church from 27 May to 27 June 2021.
Kaleidoscope String Quartet
We are especially pleased that the Kaleidsocope String Quartet is part of our international dance production 2021! The Kaleidoscope String Quartet's consistently chosen path of music-making without blinkers leads them into musical realms where genre classifications become obsolete. The musicians, trained in jazz and classical music, find their own sound language through the string quartet, the supreme discipline of classical music, which explores musical boundaries and always seeks points of connection to other genres.
Preparations are underway
We are already working on the posters for the upcoming international dance project which will take place from 27 May to 27 June 2021 in the Königsfelden Monastery Church. This much can be revealed: The Brazilian dancer Marlúcia do Amaral will grace the poster of our renowned dance festival. Stay curious!
Sei Nacht zu mir
We are already working on the new international dance production "Sei Nacht zu mir!". In the latest project, the great longing for intimacy and encounter finds expression in the poetic pas de deux of dance and music. Dancers and musicians find a variety of mutual dialogues in the sign of the night. The night holds the secret of love and hope, of a world in which the longing seeks redemption. In the choreography by Remus Şucheană, former director of the Ballett am Rhein in Düsseldorf, an international contemporary dance ensemble of 10 dancers interprets the different facets of nocturnal love poetry. The renowned Swiss music ensemble "Kaleiodoscope String Quartet" plays their own compositions live.