»figuration« Ben Rentz

In the organizer's words:

The choreographic work "figuration" poses questions about attributions, labels and standardization of young bodies and the associated deep discomfort in young people's own physicality. Ben Rentz uses the sculptures of Franz Bernhard as a starting point. Many young adults express a discomfort with their own physicality. From an early age, Generation Z has perceived their bodies as an image through smartphones, AI and social media, among other things. Their own body is never the center of attention, but rather the permanent target of observation and evaluation, both by themselves and by others. The desire to slip into a 'borrowed' body that conforms to the norm has become part of everyday life.

Expanding self-perception beyond critical observation and creating an authentic relationship to oneself and the surrounding world is a central theme of the work on "figuration". Queer spaces of life and desire, which have been fought for by the LGBTQ+ community as options independent of heteronormative attributions, are also to be made accessible as progressive potential. Franz Bernhard's human sculptures exist without normative attributions, do not create a supposed naturalness, have neither gender attributes nor are they normative in size and scale; they thus offer an ideal projection surface for the examination of one's own body image.

CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHY Ben Rentz MUSIC Ada Meret Helene Brack TEXT Sanaa Attar DRAMATURGY Yoreme Waltz DANCE Emilia Thea Alexandre, Fatemeh Azizi, Vein Narges Azizi, Erle Blume, Peer Schmidt, Anton Schuster, Felix Spogis, Ferdinand Waltz, Pia Weber LIVE ELECTRONICS, VIOLONCELLO Ada Meret Helene Brack VIOLONCELLO Clara Gioconda Angulo Hammes COSTUME Ben Rentz, Yoreme Waltz GRAPHICS Jasmin Mahmoud, Svenja Dalferth VIDOE Kev Beckmann ASSISTANCE DIRECTOR Emmy Tema HOSPITAN Ron Kruse LIGHT DESIGN Nik Wallbaum

A production of ensemble ben rentz, in co-production with Franz Bernhard Haus/Andreas C. H. Schell Stiftung and TANZ Karlsruhe

With the kind support of the Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e.V. with funds from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg, the Cultural Office of the City of Karlsruhe and the federal program "Demokratie leben! Active against right-wing extremism, violence and misanthropy" of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth via Stadtjugendausschuss e.V.; coordination and specialist office for "Partnerships for Democracy" Karlsruhe.

Please note: Reduced tickets are available - subject to available quotas - for school pupils, students,
young people doing voluntary service, recipients of social welfare or unemployment benefit, holders of a severely disabled person's ID card, those doing basic military service, trainees, recipients under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. The premises of Franz Bernhard Haus are not barrier-free. Age restriction from 14 years. No seating. Further information and details will follow. If you have any questions until then, please contact office@benrentz.com. Please note that details may change until the day of the event.