Goethe Scenes

Dance with Me

Delving deep into one’s own history rather than fishing in muddy waters – Harald and Nento encounter one another on the Rio Pilcomayo in the north of Argentina. In the flow of their movements and words, the Wichí and European artists tell one another their people’s myths. European cultural techniques meet with the genesis stories of an Argentinean tribe whose life sustenance is threatened by modern industry. Here in Santa Victoria Este, where Nento finds fewer and fewer fish to catch, he sings and dances his tribal history. Harald Beutelstahl, the oldest active dancer in Europe, recalls the songs of his life. Both get to know their yearnings and examine their own memories, which are expressed in their stories and bodies. The images and sounds that they produce are the basis for the Argentinean-German performance IFWUALA. In this project, funded by the Goethe-Institut Buenos Aires, choreographer Lara Kugelmann and arts journalist Jürgen Berger bring together foreign cultures. During the multiple phases of collaboration, their commonalities and differences in dealing with origin and future will be illuminated. IFWUALA will present itself to an audience for the first time with the Try Out 1 in the studio of Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin from 13 until 19 September, after which the story will continue to be told in further performances in Argentina and Brazil in 2011.