as part of Tales Festival

23.01. – 24.01.2026

Two days of dance, music, and empowerment: Tales celebrates the diversity of Black and Brown cultures and gets artists and audiences moving. Stories of identity, belonging, and artistic power unfold on multiple stages. Tales invites you to experience dance as a collective ritual—as a space for encounter, education, and social change.

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Company Stark

Exotiques

Performance Dance Theatre & Performance
Drei TänzerInnen in bunten, karierten Kostümen bewegen sich synchron auf Bühne, dynamische Pose in lebendigem Licht.

In a world marked by contrast, various bodies gather – each one formed by a different reality. Some form under the burden of silence, other start pulsating in response to the resistance they encounter. They carry unique stories, roles and expectations. They all exist in realities that decide who will be seen, who will be heard, and who will be allowed to move freely.

Every moment reveals another reality of the body: One of survival, one of defiance, and one of transformation. This work is a mesh of lived realities, borne by breath, rhythm, and the shared wish to recapture the space. It is an invitation to experience the beauty as well as the savagery of this life – and to feel what it means to simultaneously exist within as well as beyond such a frame. It evokes powers and draws from that which was once buried.
And somewhere in between – in the silence, the ruptures, the “almost” – something new begins. A new language. A different kind of truth. One that does not explain itself but rather wants to be felt.

cast

Artistic Direction, Choreography, Dance: Willie Stark
Choreographic Input, Dance: Yasmine Calasse & Laura Schönlau
Music Composition, Live Music: Fallon Mayanja
Outside Eye: Balindile ka Ngcobo
Costumes: Kora Hamm with Willie Stark
Lighting: Björn Nienhuys
Business Management: Bibiana Leufgen

Stark Company, led by Willie Stark, creates bold, politically charged choreography that is both artistically innovative and socially resonant. Founded and directed by Willie Stark, the company explores themes of justice, identity, and collective memory through movement.

credits

Supported by the MWK Diversitätsfonds and the Cultural Department of the City of Cologne.

Supported by Kunst- und Kulturstiftung der Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf, Ministry for Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Cultural Department of the State Capital of Düsseldorf.