Berghain is more readily associated with disheveled, early-hour ravers, but the clubbing fortress is preparing itself for a more elegant look: the ballet. On May 4th, Berghain will host a new ballet project scored by techno legends Henrik Schwarz and Marcel Dettmann amongst others.
This is not the first ballet to take place at the famous Berlin club. An earlier collaboration with Berlin State Ballet resulted in the Shut Up and Dance! show in 2007, featuring music from Luciano and Tobias Freund. It was panned by critics and dance fans alike, but the new show promises to banish any memories of Shut Up and Dance.
Entitled MASSE, it will consist of three performances choreographed by three different choreographers with each part scored by famous producers. Henrik Schwarz takes the lead with the first performance entitled Balletsuite1 and promises a six-track suite of piano, guitar and electronics. Next comes a collaboration between Âme’s Frank Wiedemann and Marcel Dettmann to accompany the second performance Menuett. Finally, Marcel Fengler and Efdemin have produced the score under their new joint alias DIN for the third dance entitled EVOLVE. The ballet’s set will be designed by painter Norbert Bisky making MASSE a truly multi-disciplined artistic endeavour.
The first performance will take place on May 4th with ten more to follow throughout May. The complete score will be released as an album via Ostgut Ton in June.
In an interview with RA, Ostgut Ton label manager Jenus Baumeker elaborated on the artistic vision behind the project which originally came from one of Berghain’s owners:
“Standing inside the huge cube that is the giant hall behind Berghain, he imagined the mass (in German: Masse) of people that could fit in there and how it has become more difficult for an artist in our fast-moving age of information overload to really capture the imagination and hearts of an audience.
“Combining modern electronic music with a visual experience of contemporary ballet in a fine art stage setting (designed by German painter Norbert Bisky), and pairing this with the idea of MASSE as the concept for the choreographies and music compositions should go some way to make an overstimulated public take note.”
Read the interview with Bauemeker in full here.
By Georgina Burks
