Architectural Dialogues is a film by Sasha Waltz shot in the unconventional setting of three museums and cultural centers: Neues Museum in Berlin designed by David Chipperfield Architects in collaboration with Julian Harrap, MAXXI National Museum of the XXI Century Arts in Rome designed by Zaha Hadid and the Jewish Museum in Berlin designed by Daniel Libeskind.
More on the film with trailers after the break!
The film challenges the notion of stage, performer and audience by placing musicians and dancers within the day to day operations of the museum, indistinguishable (at first) from the patrons. The sequences performed by the dancers vary between interprative dances and contortionist positions that alter the perceived use of the spaces within the museum. Hanging from ceilings, walking on walls, hovering on window sills – Sasha Waltz finds places for the body to fit within the architecture where they otherwise do not belong – such as between two panes of glass that function as a railing at the Maxxi National Museum.
The bodies of the dancers are very self-conscious – conscious of the details of the space they are in and the way their bodies interact with it. They are finding cracks and niches to fit within and manipulate the “everyday spaces” in unexpected ways. They are “talking to architecture” by pushing the boundaries of where the body belongs in space.
Watch these individual trailers:
MAXXI National Museum of the XXI Century Arts:
Find more information here.
