ABOUT DREAM CITY

In DREAM CITY, CocoonDance is searching for a structure of multiform coexisting bodies, images of the One, further developed, more complex organism that communicates with itself. The choreography makes a physical form of communication productive, drawing inspiration from non-human, organic and instinctive processes. Bodies become in this regard bodies that are not identical with each other, but open to a progressive interlinked locomotion.

The artistic foundations of this project are based above all on the research of the motion quality of "other bodies", which has become a far-reaching approach to the choreographic work of CocoonDance. In DREAM CITY, CocoonDance dancers will meet children and teenagers from the Junior Company, urban dancers and parcour artists as well as DJ sound artist Franco Mento. 

The title is borrowed from the essay Speaking in Tongues by British writer Zadie Smith, who describes her dream city as “a place of many voices, where the unified singular self is an illusion. (...) In Dream City everything is doubled, everything is various. You have no choice but to cross borders and speak in tongues.”

PRESS CLIPPINGS

At the end of this impressive evening, three things in particular stick in the mind of the audience that rewarded the dance performance with downright exuberant applause. Giovanola's idea to show as many gaits as never seen before, the high performance of the dancers and the question of how the urban society of the future must look like in reality. One can hardly expect more from such an evening. (Michael S. Zerban, O-Ton Internet magazine, 01.02.2019)

Again and again the spectators are amazed by the body control displayed by the dancers who seem to undermine the laws of gravity, and the precision in which they, despite the rapidity and narrowness of their movements, avoid any collisions. Thereby the professional and non-professional dancers, adults and  children (the youngest is just eight years old), merge into a harmonious blend... . A breathtaking evening with an enormous emotional impact. 

(Steffen Tost, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, 04.02.2019)

A choreographic masterly-achievement!  Choreographer Rafaële Giovanola has constructed a convincing choreographic framework for the randomness of movement of different bodies, which requires the contribution of each individual to the overall "construction" of the piece and thus provides structuring significance to it. These gaps, the masterly choreographed in-between, give the piece an unique and unexpected dynamic. (...) Their movement styles are all different, really weird and funny, yet convincingly matching the individuality of each single dancer.  Slowly the spectator discovers the secret behind this: Panta rhei, all movements flow and connect to an infinite network of movement. (Klaus Keil, tanzweb.org, 16.03.2019)

... their experimental exploration of the body, outside and self-perception, the results of which could recently be admired resulted in magnificent pieces like "Momentum", "Ghost B" and "Vis Motrix”. One could almost say that "Dream City" brings together those past experiences in a big crossover of movements. ... Despite the heterogeneity of all the actors and their movements, the piece does not seem random, but, on the contrary, extremely organic. ... Out of all that, the dance piece develops like a very polyphonic symphony which experiences a tremendous dynamic process. ... After about 50 intense minutes the play is over. The audience … was enraptured by this performance on Saturday night. (Bernhard Hartmann, General-Anzeiger, Bonn, 18.03.2019)

The stage is vitalized by 16 people, they come from all directions. In and out, with fearless stoicism. Normal is here: everyone has its own way. Children, adolescents, adults. Some people also adopt someone else's gait or invent or add something to it. Everything is allowed, no one is marginalized. Everyone, professional dancers and amateurs, are united by the electronic beat by Franco Mento, but heartless. Alternating dynamics give structure to the event, but do not spare it from indifference. (Melanie Suchy, Kölner Stadtanzeiger, 22.03.2019)

The Bonn dance company CocoonDance creates a surreal world with its fascinating production "Dream City". The space in the theater im Ballsaal remains white and empty, but the dancers write fantastic stories with their bodies without words in constantly undiscovered dream locations. (Christoph Pierschke, Schnüss, 04/2019)

This is a celebration of the individuality in the community. (Antje Grajetzky, Bühnentechnische Rundschau 2.2019)

... an awesome piece of modern dance theater, and remarkable in many ways. (...) Rafaële Giovanola has succeeded in creating a choreography that, in an impressive way, did not organize the happenings on the stage according to logical or coherent principles, but according to invisible and seemingly accidental ones. …

The children and teenagers, who are dancing naturally and fully professionally along, appear both fascinating and irritating, a symbol for a holistic world and nature that is constantly in the making. (Jürgen Bieler, Bonner Rundschau, 15.10.2019)