die Dunkelheit (the Darkness)

Sebastian dances! And he dances die Dunkelheit (the Darkness): Despair, grief, anger – yet also party, excess, and transition. In their new choreography, simultaneously demanding as well as touching, Verena Billinger & Sebastian Schulz critically dissect the concept of “toxic masculinity”. To do this, they delve into the shallows of digital parallel worlds and social retreats. There, men give free reign to their feelings of uselessness and rejection. The soundtrack for Sebastian’s solo is provided by stimulating nightcore songs – a genre that is, marked as an internet phenomenon, part of male-dominated echo chambers. Soon, the three dancers Jungyun Bae, Magdalena Dzeco and Camilla Fiumara appear on stage as anime girls turned into reality. They become sparring partners for a breathless relationship training. Together with Sebastian, they continuously form new constellations that display excruciating familiarities but also alternatives and exits.