Choreography: Reinhild Hoffmann
| Clip length: 0’54 min
A woman on the side of a sofa: the metre-long train of her light evening dress merges into the cover of the furniture. Her range of movement is determined by the fabric and the sofa, and the dancer cannot escape either, no matter how hard she tries. The “Solo mit Sofa”, which Reinhild Hoffmannchoreographed for herself in 1977, became a surprising success, which on the one hand referred back to the tradition of German expressive dance, on the other hand was influenced by American performance art. Created to music by John Cage, the solo abolishes the clear boundary between subject and object. It plays with the contours of the sofa when the performer – wrapped up like an oversized roll of fabric – lies in front of the furniture. And at the same time it thematises the sensitivities of a bound person who tries to get rid of her cloth shackles with calculation or in fierce anger. After about 15 minutes, the dancer takes up the fabric, folds it up and walks towards the sofa. (Klaus Kieser)
Dance Encyclopaedia Links
People
Institutions
Topics