‘Catalogue (First Edition)’ – a silent ballet

Warehouse Theatre will tomorrow, 6 March, welcome a performance choreographed by the world-renowned American choreographer William Forsythe, who since the late 1970s has been producing works for companies across Europe and the Americas.

The ‘Catalogue (First Edition)’ is a 20-minute dance piece staged without music by Christopher Roman and Brit Rodemund, which was developed for Dance On, Roman’s Berlin-based company of dancers over 40 years of age.

“I don’t understand why dance is always paired with music – dogmatically – when humans can see music in many forms. The two bodies are creating music but not the music we might be used to. The rhythms of music can be communicated through the body,” said Roman.

Roman says the performance will challenge society to think a little harder and, if willing enough to collaborate, it becomes a meditation for both dancers and audience members.

Born and raised in America, Roman has training from the School of Cleveland Ballet and the School of American ballet. He began his career in the US and prospered into being a choreographer and artistic director.

“I have worked with dancers from diverse cultural backgrounds and in the US alone I met people from Italy, France, almost anywhere in Asia and more from Eastern Europe. I experienced them first hand – a privilege – and we are all in search for the same – love and acknowledgement.”

Rodemund was educated at the National School of Ballet in Berlin and danced for five years at the National Opera in Berlin and later in Essen and Nürnberg.

Brought to Africa for the first time by the Goethe-Institut Namibia, Roman says he is looking forward to ticking the African continent off his bucket list.

“I have never been anywhere in Africa and having worked with dancers around the world, I appreciate the dynamics of a relationship with others when producing works.”

He described the silent performance as Forsythe’s attempt to welcome people who question dance as an art form and invite them to understand.

The piece starts with four simple points on the body (hips and shoulders) and then progresses through 21 modalities, which are mapped onto each other in a cumulative system of motion that gains in complexity with each layer.

“At first, the piece may come across as just linear but once an audience member taps into the circularity of even linear movements, it translates into classical ballet language,” he said.

The show starts at 19h00. Tickets are available at Events Today.

– Goethe-Institut

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