Shows

Emancipation of Wonder

SPECIAL GUIDED TOURS FOR ART MUSEUMS

In EMANCIPATION OF WONDER, the discourse about art, which can at times be perceived as elitist or inaccessible, aims to be expanded to include deliberately non-academic, spontaneous codes.

As a strategy, the artists record the comments and interpretations of children between aged 4 – 10 while they visit the exhibition. Out of the resulting documentation material, Navaridas & Deutinger develop guided museum tours for adults, performed by actors acting as art mediators. The commentaries on works of art become acts of performative art.

In the original language of eight-year-olds the tour led by Pia Hierzegger offers an examination of art that is not obscured by art-historical tidbits of knowledge, and includes spatial explorations far beyond the standardised walkaround tour. Entertaining, eye-opening, very fantastic.

Kleine Zeitung, Ute Baumhackl, 31/10/2020

It feels unbelievably good that thoughts and reactions which one tends to culture-consciously conceal, are unabashedly served here on a verbal platter.

tanz.at, Eveline Koberg, 2/11/2020

WATCH THE FULL GUIDED TOURS

WATCH THE TRAILERS

Concept & Performance_	Marta Navaridas, Alex Deutinger
Performers	Pia Hierzegger, Frans Poelstra, Monika Klengel
Cameras_	Ulrich Reiterer and Marta Navaridas
Video editor_	Ulrich Reiterer
Costumes_	Marta Navaridas
Thanks to_	Monika Holzer-Kernbichler and Markus Waitschacher
Production Manager_	Sophie Schmeiser / mollusca productions
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
With the support of_	Kunstvermittlung Neue Galerie Graz, Universal Museum Johaneum, Praxisvolksschule der Pädagogischen Hochschule Steiermark, Stadt Graz Kultur, Kultur Land Steiermark, Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport

Special thanks_

All the children who contributed to the creation of these tours

Hausgeist or I Wish You Were Here

In their new solo performance, Navaridas & Deutinger humorously and poetically explore the dialectics of uselessness versus usefulness and visibility versus invisibility in the guise of a ghostly artist or and artistic ghost. After long months of ‘ghost game performances’ without spectators in the theater, this is an evening in front of a live audience with an un/real ghost.

“It is a very subtle play with the visible, the obvious and the invisible that Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger present in their production ‘Hausgeist’ on the stage of Haus 2. With a lot of humor but also a lot of philosophy and a good portion of melancholy the essence of existence is put to question. [...] Once again, the performance duo succeeds in a finely drawn exploration of human existence, in which essential questions are dealt with in a highly entertaining way. Worth seeing.”

Kronen Zeitung, Michaela Reichart, 06/17/2021

“He [note Alex Deutinger as 'Hausgeist'] dances, tells of fears, dreams and the sudden honesty of the dying. And he bangs loudly against a wall several times while trying to walk through it. So the stage is not haunted after all; rather, the expressive solo choreographed by Marta Navaridas is about isolation and the basic need for closeness. How fleeting this has recently turned out to be is the actually scary thing which this show is talking about.”

Kleine Zeitung, Ute Baumhackl, 06/17/2021

WATCH THE TRAILER

Concept_	Alex Deutinger and Marta Navaridas
Direction & Choreography_	Marta Navaridas
Text_	Alex Deutinger
Performance_	Alex Deutinger
Costumes & Stage_	Matthias Dielacher
Sound Design & Live music_	Manuel Riegler
Artistic Research_	Florin Flueras, Christoph Szalay
Outside Eyes_	Monika Klenger, Jacob Banigan
Production Manager_	Sophie Schmeiser / mollusca productions
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
Co-production_	Schauspielhaus Graz
Supported by_	Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark
Thanks to_	Everyone who shared their ghosts stories
Photos_	Johanna Lamprecht

Octopus

Marta Navaridas, Alex Deutinger and Christoph Szalay take a close look at the octopus as one of the most charismatic and complex sea-creatures. Whether appearing in myths of old, as ship-devouring monster, as part of political propaganda or in literature, fine arts or film, the octopus has been playing most diverse roles, yet often as embodiment of the Other. Landlocked but with curiosity, Navaridas/Deutinger/Szalay look for the Other within themselves and create a tentacular narrative full of tenderness, touch and desires, inspired by this versatile, enigmatic and incredibly elegant inhabitant of the sea.

”In a wonderful mix of humour and sensuality they celebrate a poetic togetherness and entanglement of bodies, interspersed with passionately delivered musical flirts with pop-hits such as “Because the Night” or “Believer”.

Kronen Zeitung / Christoph Hartner

“You cannot escape this pull, this message of love, you can just pleseantly succumb to it. After this, you are a “better human”, attentive, loving, playful. A real treat.”

Klaudia Reichenbacher / Theater Kaendace

“Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger together with Christoph Szalay dedicate themselves to a sensual flow of movement, a dreamlike human harmony of giving and taking. Yet, they do not lose their critical stance, which is relentlessly proved in the final sequence.”

tanz.at / Eveline Koberg

WATCH THE TRAILER

Concept & Performance_	Marta Navaridas, Alex Deutinger, Christoph Szalay
Underwater Cinematographer_	Txema Vega Villate
Video Director and Editor_	Mikel Yarza
Music_	Stephan Sperlich
Costumes & Stage_	Sarah Sternat
Sound Engineering_	Stefan Ehgartner
Lighting Design_	Sveta Schwin
Video Documentation_	Ulrich Reiterer
Production Manager_	Sophie Schmeiser
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
Co-production_	Theaterland Steiermark
Supported by_	Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark, Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Forum Stadtpark, Theater im Bahnhof
Thanks to_	VCR and Monitoring: Streaming on Set (streamingonset.com), Monika Klengel, Jacob Banigan, Sara G. Novi
Photos_	Clara Wildberger

I Would Like To Be A Better Person

Who or what or where are ‘The People’? Historian Edmund Morgan argues in Inventing the People: ‘The people are never visible as such. Before we ascribe sovereignty to the people, we have to imagine that there is such a thing, something we personify as though it were a single body, capable of thinking, of acting, of making decisions and carrying them out.’

So, let us imagine. Let us personify. Let us make this single body visible. One single body. On stage, Marta Navaridas silently performs a detailed bathroom routine. No objects. No set. From the off, we hear a series of thoughts, a stream of consciousness. As water shoots out of the imaginary showerhead, runs over her body and down the imaginary drain, we become witnesses to an intimate protocol of aspirations, fears and frustrations of someone who is not always smart, not always interesting, not always informed, not always prepared, not always friendly, and not always of an opinion. Someone who is not always honest and competent and sincere and hard-working. Someone who is a little bit spoilt and narcissistic. Someone who would like to be a better person. Someone like you. Someone like us. Someone like ‘The People’. Maybe.

Concept_	Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger
Performance_	Marta Navaridas
Dramaturgy Support_	Florin Flueras
Movement Coach_	William Dashwood
Sound Engineering_	Stefan Ehgartner
Lighting Design_	Sveta Schwin
Production Manager_	Sophie Schmeiser
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
Co-production_	Tanzquartier Vienna
Supported by_	Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark, BUDA Kunstencentrum Kortrijk, Tanzfabrik Berlin, apap -Performing Europe 2020, Theater im Bahnhof, Das Andere Theater Graz, IG Tanz Graz, Share Your Darlings
Thanks to_	Frans Poelstra, Monika Klengel
Photos_	Kati Göttfried

Pontifex

The new production Pontifex of Marta Navaridas & Alexander Deutinger is part III of the thematic series Iconic Rhetorics, which deals with iconic figures of our times. These figures serve the artists as projection surfaces for their choreographic discourse: The relations between gesture and speech, external and internal perception, exposure and fragility are negotiated on stage.

After the previous works of Your Majesties on Barack Obama and Queen of Hearts on Princess Diana, Pontifex takes a close look at Pope Francis.

Pontifex is a reaction to the skillful media portrayals of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the 266^th Pope, aka Francis. On his World Tours, he holds press conferences on airplanes, meets with Heads of States, pays a flying visit to the European Parliament and addresses the UN General Assembly. In 2016, US-Magazine Forbes ranks him as #5 of the Worlds Most Powerful People. Francis polarizes with his critical positions on economic, social and environmental issues. Causing controversies across camps, he shakes the dusty image of the Catholic Church to the core. In all this the question arises: What is this person’s public role? Is he a Superhero-Pop-Pope-Politician? A new left-wing icon? A conservative figurehead? A hologram developed by Sony?

WATCH THE TRAILER

Concept and Performance_	Marta Navaridas, Alex Deutinger, Adina Camhy
Music_	Adina Camhy
Sound _	Stefan Ehgartner
Lights_	Svetlana Schwin
Costumes_	Johanna Lakner
Outside Eyes_	Monika Klengel, Frans Poelstra
Music Advice_	Guenther Berger
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
Co-production_	SZENE Salzburg, in the frame of “apap-Performing Europe 2020 – co-founded by Creative Europe Programme of the European Union”
Supported by_	Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark, Theater im Bahnhof, Centrale Fies
Thanks to_	Atelier Si Bologna, Das Andere Theater Graz, IG Tanz Graz
Drawings_	Marta Navaridas

Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts works with Lady Diana as a reference point for an observation on status in society. As ‘The People’s Princess’, Diana stands for the paradox relation between monarchy and the people. Navaridas & Deutinger raise questions about the manipulative display of private and public affairs and the symbolic value of inherited power structures.

“Impressive, playful, dense, thought-provoking. A league of their own.”

Daniel Hadler, Kleine Zeitung

“A performance that goes under your skin.”

Eveline Koberg, tanz.at

“Highly original. Deep. Very precise.”

Ditta Rudle, tanzschrift.at

WATCH THE TRAILER

Concept and Performance_	Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger
Sound Engineering_	Stefan Ehgartner
Lighting Design_	Peter Thalhamer
Music_	Stephan Sperlich
Dramaturgy Support_	Frans Poelstra and Monika Klengel
Drum Coach_	Erwin Schober
Production_	Performanceinitiative 22
Co-production_	Tanzquartier Vienna
Supported by_	Bundeskanzleramt Österreich, Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, Kultur Land Steiermark, Dance-Identity Burgenland, The Swedish Arts Grants Committee – International Dance Program, Das Andere Theater Graz, IG Tanz Graz
Thanks to_	Sara González-Novi, Patrick Wurzwallner
Photos_	Kati Göttfried and Imre Zsibrik

Your Majesties

A lecture-performance about War, Peace and Hope.

In Your Majesties, Navaridas & Deutinger present President Barack Obamas Nobel Lecture, held at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo. Alex Deutinger recites the legendary speech of the President of the United States of America. From behind the audience, Marta Navaridas performs as a gesturing teleprompter, manipulating and guiding his movements. The President´s speech is revived, a piece of World History is updated and the techniques of political rhetoric are laid bare in a surprisingly clear and simple way.

The most remarkable thing about this performance is the gradual dismantling of the political gesture with its traditionally problematic relation to reality. At the end of the day, there are differences between political talk, political action and the execution of political will. In democratic systems, all three are interwoven, if not through trust, at least through hope. And this hope – stunningly – is made the basis for individual reflection by Navaridas & Deutinger.

Georg Petermichl, Corpus

This one is a corker: simple yet deeply funny, rigorous, revealing and politically charged. An utterly unconventional duet.

Donald Hutera, The London Times

Everyday movements become choreographic movements. As in an encyclopedia of pseudo-private representation, the techniques of political discourse are enacted and laid bare.

BestOFFstyria Jury Report

One of the cleverest shows I´ve ever seen. Absolute genius.

Morag Deyes, director DanceBase

WATCH THE ENGLISH TRAILER

WATCH THE SPANISH TRAILER

*Concept and Performance_*	Marta Navaridas and Alex Deutinger
*Text_*	Barack Obama
Language_	English (optional simultaneous interpretation into French, German, Italian, Spanish)
*Duration_*	50 min
*Photos_*	Daniel Schmidt

Speaking Of Which

Searching for cohesion in this age of fragmentation.

In Speaking of Which, Alex and Marta establish kaleidoscopic thought-connections making mental leaps between physics, philosophy and theology. In a dialogical structure between themselves on stage and their pixelated alter egos in a dance studio, they pose a series of questions addressing superstitious science, fanatic relativism, atheistic christianism, esoteric legitimacy, delusional concreteness and other intriguing paradoxes.

Žižek, Hawking, God and virtual reality…

Evoking microcosmos as well as far-away galaxies..

Humourous and smart, the production hovers between various layers of meaning – a physical state supported live by the electronic sounds of Stephan Sperlich. As in previous projects, the Graz-based artists play with mirroring and doubling – this time within the realm of “real” versus “virtual” existence.

Ch. Hartner

In a sea of abstraction, associations are a treasure and a self earned pleasure.

The addition of a self reflective commentary combined with a keen awareness of its placement and context tackles the form to pieces.

The subject of the multi-dimensionality is inviting to a broader experience of a claustrophobic reality.

What more can I say, they found the door to Narnia in the dance-studios closet.

I. Huld

WATCH THE TRAILER

Concept and Performance_	Alex Deutinger and Marta Navaridas
*Composition and Sound Direction_*	Stephan Sperlich
*Outside Eye_*	Helmut Köpping
*Thanks to_*	Hanna Hollmann
*Photos_*	Klaus Pichler, www.kpic.at
A commission by_	Tanzquartier Wien

On The Other Hand

The terror of normality and the normality of terror.

In On the Other Hand, Navaridas & Deutinger work with two life-sized puppets, which they touch, move, treat and mistreat with the help of long sticks. The relation between the human performers and their inanimate counterparts is characterized by active manipulation and passive resistance. The puppets´ subjection to manipulation – in movement and in stillness – in combination with the texts and the live music lends them a contradictory strength: They seem impassive yet needy, indifferent yet demanding, vulnerable, distressed and threatened, yet indestructible.

*Concept and Performance_*	Alex Deutinger and Marta Navaridas
*Text_*	Stefanie Sargnagel, Alex Deutinger, Marta Navaridas
Composition & Live Music_	Stephan Sperlich
*Puppets & Costumes_*	Hanna Hollmann
*Light_*	Roman Streuselberger

*Outside eyes_*	Helmut Koepping, Jacob Banigan
*Thanks to_*	Guy Cools, Paulina Irazabal, Krassimira Kruschkova, Annemarie Sperlich
Produced by_	Performanceinitiative 22
*Coproduced by_*	Tanzquartier Wien
*Supported by_*	Kulturamt der Stadt Graz, A9 – Kultur Land Steiermark

*Photo credit_*	Elsa Okazaki

LOOK AT THEM NOW!

A Study of The Perfect Human.

Look at them now! deals with the absurdity of watching and being watched. It draws parallels between going to the zoo and going to a performance. The work is inspired by the experimental short film “The Perfect Human” (J. Leth), in which the protagonists perform routine actions, while the director’s voice comments from the OFF on what the actors are doing. The direct combination of action and commentary provokes a reconsideration of what is observed. The performance takes this idea and combines it with a unique movement signature.

This show won the 1st Prize an the TALL ORDER competition at Choreographic Centre Linz (CCL) and the ACCESSIT-Prize of the Jury at ACT Festival Bilbao

An exciting look into the strange and awkward world of the human being and humanity … and fish.

Chris Walker. Openbatch Theatre

Funny, very funny. Wonderful movers.

Like an ironic interpretation of Desmond Morris.

BE-Festival

Witty and amusing, smartly structured and ingenuously performed by two charismatic dancers, the piece reads as an ironic treatise of post-modern performance.

E. Wolf-Perez, www.tanz.at

Concept and performance_	Alex Deutinger and Marta Navaridas
Sound Engineering_	Ricardo Maduro
Coach_	Irene Schaltegger
Length_	35 min
Language_	English with optional Spanish translation
Photos_	Saso Stamatovski

Shows

Emancipation of Wonder

Hausgeist or I Wish You Were Here

Octopus

I Would Like To Be A Better Person

Pontifex

Queen of Hearts

Your Majesties

Speaking Of Which

On The Other Hand

LOOK AT THEM NOW!

A Study of The Perfect Human.

Concept and performance_

Sound Engineering_

Coach_

Length_

Language_

Photos_