Bodies

For the first dance evening at the Großes Haus, Marcel Leemann and Caroline Finn focus on the body: sometimes as an empty shell, sometimes as a home for the mind and soul, and sometimes as a status symbol. 

Meat Market
In Marcel Leemann’s Meat Market, the focus is on a market-oriented interpretation of the art and culture scene. The dancers become mass-produced commodities, presenting themselves directly before the judgmental eyes of the audience. Which side of themselves must they show, and how far must they go to be favored? Every moment becomes a decision; every movement and every smile is seen as a chance to score points with the audience. In the end, however, Meat Market makes it clear that true beauty and the value of art lie beyond superficial marketing. It is a call not to view art and culture as commodities, but as expressions of the human soul.

Over My Dead Body
Where do the spirit and soul go when they leave the body? Do they remain only in memory? How is a dead body treated in comparison to a living one? British choreographer Caroline Finn, known in Innsbruck for The Room, weaves moving scenarios around these questions: In an imaginary space, departed souls gather, uncertain whether they have been forgotten, forced to redefine themselves without their physical forms. Others revel in their newfound freedom. Another scenario: a morgue where lifeless bodies are collected and examined—forensically, anatomically, methodically. Neither life nor spirit… pure science.

Caroline Finn approaches these spaces and themes with a darkly humorous sensibility. The combination of an imposing stage design with a rich soundtrack lends the work a cinematic aesthetic and invites the audience to lose themselves in the danced images.