körper, terrain

christina ciupke and manuela fischer
 

looking at the body as a multilayered constantly changing terrain. the structure of the piece is inspired by the unusual spirals of grapevine. the physical exploration in space leads to an unfolding of movement-sequences challenging the common perspective of perception. with an impuls coming from the pelvis the body moves through space as if carried by itself leaving behind traces of slow turns and circles. following archeological relics of motivation through ever fainter layers of movement to stillness.
 

credits:

concept, dance: christina ciupke, manuela fischer
composition: n. karsten fischer
technical assistance tim tucker
duration: 30 minutes
 

PRESSE
 
the guardian 15/01/01
dance
resolution mixed bill
bloomsbury theatre, london

-certainly the opening minutes of körper, terrain by the german duo christina ciupke and manuela fischer, where the two women lie motionless on an empty, silent stage, sent me into reflex critical mode. hadn't they heard of paul taylor, who in 1957 earned a blank review for standing still in a dance show ? but as the pair finally began to move, minutely adjusting their bodies through the slowest of stretches, somersaults, crouches and crawls, i saw that they weren't reiterating the mischievous deconstructions of the earlier generations, but doing a very contemporary spin on minimalism. they were doing dance as designer loft living, dance as feng shui. dressed in mutated grey and brown and tracking around a space that was fastidiously lit, the two dancers sculpted their bodies through a sequence of beautiful and contemplative forms. low-key music subtle altered the ambiance from trance to urban. we never saw the dancers' faces, so deeply coiled and twisted were their bodies, but we got to know their limbs, their spines, the soles of their feet, the sensuous precision of their breathing. if the pacing of the work was such that our minds wandered, it was always a pleasure returning to this space of elegant lines and gracious calm.
 

dance europe
february 2001 (cont)

dance can be hard unless you're willing to surrender to a demanding, unfamiliar pace. consider german's christina ciupke and manuela fischer. their rigorous körper, terrain will, i think, stick with me. the two start by spending over two minutes lying motionless, stage right. their ensuing movement is mostly limited to rolling on and off their shoulders, backs to us, with a wormy wriggle of the lower body tossed in. the result is hypnotic, lulling and maybe a little boring. i accept it as dance as a visual art, with a link to nature's rhythms. as friends said, it's like watching snails crawl or seaweed sway. the duo's control was exemplary.
 

resolution ! reviews friday 12 january
christina ciupke & manuela fischer , koerper, terrain
review ..by helena thompson

in an apocalyptic world people become forms and music becomes sound. that's if the sightscapes of christina ciupke & manuela fischer are anything to go by. though their performance proved evocative and accomplished, it could have ended much sooner without diminishing its effect. true to the publicity, mesmerist, may indeed be the only way to describe this piece but it is a term as broad as the future. in fully realising so abstract a vision the duo fail to offer up the sort so of ideas that can be developed.
 

resolution ! reviews
friday 12 january
christina ciupke & manuela fischer , körper , terrain
review ...by colleen teresa bartley

mesmerising in its simplicity and minimalism, körper, terrain reflected the movement of eternally changing landscapes in its lava-like shifting of weight, slow motion tumbling, and strong stillness accompanied by deep cavernous sounds of gongs, whistling wind, and metallic shocks. often balanced on shoulders with heads tucked invisibly beneath, the hypnotising rhythm of hips, back and base of spine made the humanness of christina ciupke and manuela fischer disappear revealing deeper internal forces and transforming their legs into images of swaying sea plants, stalagmites, elephant-like appendages, or skyward-reaching tree branches. indifferent to the harsh, straight edges of the well-defined frame of white light which boxed in their performance area, the dancers shifted in and out of this frame on their journey like the ocean in its infinite tidal flow.