Constanza Macras / DorkyPark

Video: „Megalopolis“

Constanza Macras, born in Buenos Aires in 1970, studied Dance and Fashion Design in her home town. After her further education in Dance at the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York, she presented her first works in Amsterdam. She moved to Berlin in 1995, and founded her own dance company, Tamagotchi Y2K, in 1997; she created performances and pieces with artists from various fields. In 2003 she founded the dance theatre company Constanza Macras | DorkyPark in collaboration with the dramaturge Carmen Mehnert. Here she joined actors, dancers, musicians and artists from various genres and countries and combined text, video, live music and dance. In 2008, Constanza Macras’ production “Hell on Earth” was awarded the Goethe-Institut´s prize for the best German piece. In 2010 she received the “Arts at MIT William L. Abramowitz Residency” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the German theatre prize „Der Faust“ for “Megalopolis“.

Constanza Macras taught workshops and master classes at Berlin Universities and was invited to Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, Argentinia, Brazil, Chile and the USA as a choreographer and teacher. Her company works with theatres such as Hebbel am Ufer Berlin, Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz and HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts Dresden on a regular basis.

Some critics like using the expression ‘trash queen’ when writing about Constanza Macras, and this invariably has a certain nostalgic ring to it. They also say that she talks incredibly fast. All this is about an artist awarded the 2010 “Faust” prize for choreography, and who has produced an amazing number of unalike creations over the last years: from intimate pieces like “No Wonder” to pieces with young people and dancers like “Hell on Earth”, and productions repeatedly focused on metropolises: “Big in Bombay”, “Megalopolis”, “Berlin Elsewhere”, and many others.

In her choreographies she unites artists and topics from around the world: her main subjects are consumerism, urban identity, migration, segregation, and the clash of cultures. She thinks much faster than she speaks, and her words seem incapable of keeping up with the speed of her thoughts. Her ability to weave together seemingly incompatible atmospheres and actions creates scenes that function perfectly for that reason. This is an immense challenge for a dramaturge, as frustrating as it is rewarding. One embarks on a journey with the knowledge of having to arrive at a specific point. In this respect, Macras is extremely clear and logical. And not driven by so-called female emotional states. Her thinking and ideas are far more complex than that. She wanders from the global to the local and back again. This is familiar territory for Constanza Macras, no differently than her being used to changing her language in the same sentence. In the blink of an eye.

Open For Everything (2012)
23 performers – stage 15 x 15 m

Here / After (2011)
5 performers – stage 12 x 15 m

Berlin Elsewhere (2011)
10 performers – 2 musicians
stage 20 x 15 m – 100 min

The Offside Rules (2010)
9 performers – stage 16 x 13 m – 100 min

Megalopolis (2010)
13 performers – stage 20 x 15 m – 100 min

Ödipus Rex (2009)
16 performers – 28 choristers – orchestra
stage 15 x 15 m – 90 min

Hell on Earth (2008)
11 performers – 10 kids
stage 10 x 15 m – 105 min

BRICKLAND (2007)
12 performers – stage 20 x 15 m – 110 min

I’m not the only one. part 2 (2006)
8 performers – 1 local person
stage 14 x 7 m – 80 min

I’m not the only one. part 1 (2006)
7 performers – stage 14 x 7 m – 100 min

No Wonder (2005)
4 performers – 8 local male extras
stage 10 x 15 m – 90 min

Big in Bombay (2005)
14 performers – stage 15 x 15 m – 150 min