Staged by DISAPPEARING BERLIN.

Baerwaldbad
Baerwaldstrasse 64, 10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg

Improvisation will be the recurring theme through the artistic performances at the historic Baerwaldbad. The architecturally unique building of the former public swimming pool has been vacant since its closing in 2017 and is gradually deteriorating. Its property situation and future are currently unclear as the district Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg is not able to provide the necessary maintenance costs. As a result, Berlin is lacking yet another public bath. Josh Johnson, dancer and former member of the Forsythe Company, and Patrick Belaga, composer and cellist, have developed a piece from within that moment of uncertainty. The performance at Baerwaldbad will be an ongoing discussion of the ritual of the live-performance, thereby moving between piety and impiety, reverence and irreverence towards choreography as a planned sequence of movements and notes. The artists engage in improvisation as a moment of unpredictability. This moment will be mirrored vocally and gesturally through the contributions by Ensemble Klimax, the youth choir of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg music school, directed by Ann-Kristin Mayr, Cyril Baldy’s duet performance, and Thilo Garus’ monologue. Eventually, Graziano Capitta’s candle installation refers back to ‘piety’ as a quality of being religious or reverent.

Cast:
Direction: Josh Johnson & Patrick Belaga / Cello: Patrick Belaga / Choir: Ensemble Klimax, directed by Ann-Kristin Mayr / Music: Maya Shenfeld & Ann-Kristin Mayr / Performance & Text: Thilo Garus / Dance: Josh Johnson & Cyril Baldy / Installation: Graziano Capitta / Styling: Nicole Walker

DISAPPEARING BERLIN is a program presented by Schinkel Pavillon and is generously supported by Hauptstadtkulturfonds and Spartenoffene Förderung of the City of Berlin.