Gessnerallee
Zürich

The mini spotlight series Lieblingsstücke [Favorite Pieces] presents four outstanding and remarkable works from the independent scene, all of which were proposed and produced as part of the Freischwimmen [Free Swimming] network. The production platform is supported by the production venues brut in Vienna, FFT in Düsseldorf, Gessnerallee Zürich, sch wa nk hal le Bremen, Sophiensæle in Berlin, and Theater Rampe in Stuttgart. Over the past two years a total of nine groups have been supported – Gessnerallee is presenting the works of the four groups that were in residence in Zurich.

hannsjana, Machaz/Kandathil (Follow Us), Rotterdam Presenta/Contact Gonzo, and Riebensahm/Ahmad Haschemi/Hourmazdi/Christians/Schwenk have created four unique and stimulating performances that ought to definitely be seen! All groups, except for Follow Us, are showing their work in Zurich for the first time. So whoever wants to see what stunning, tender, pioneering, precise, and aesthetically impressive feminist, queer feminist, and humanitarian work is being done here and at other locations, ought to stop by.

Because we love these four pieces so much and are such big fans, we would like to offer our public our – meanwhile well-known, but therefore nonetheless attractive – gift: free admission to all four shows!

While in Nora oder ein Altenheim [Nora or a Senior Citizen Nursing Home] Zurich exponents Annina Machaz and Mira Kandathil (Follow Us) set up a small, vulnerable horror cabinet for fears of infirmity, via precise experimental procedures/«exercises» at Judith-Gessner-Platz, the Nordflügel, and the parking garage, the Düsseldorf group Rotterdam Presenta together with Contact Gonzo from Osaka (Japan) investigate what happens to our fragile bodies through accidents.

In the humorous and critical scholarly and scientific spectacle The Great M.I.N.T. Show, the feminist collective hannsjana from Berlin confronts the exclusion mechanisms of academic and scientific disciplines and as part of the investigation lets even earthworms and amoebas discuss aspects of biology. In the intersectional-feminist Zwölfkampf [traditional German men’s gymnastics event entailing twelve exercises using six kinds of equipment] SWEAT by the group Riebensahm/Ahmad Haschemi/Hourmazdi/Christians/Schwenk, who also live and work in Berlin, there is dance and empathy, solidarity and compliments – and despite sweaty showdowns, there is no competitive pressure! Here we recommend the combination with the workshop Let’s Talk about Alliances by Arpana Aischa Berndt and Mine Wenzel, which takes place on the same day before the show!