There is still a while to go until the dog days. The heat wave does not begin until July 3rd. But the dance performance of the same name has already premiered in the Sophiensaele. The Syrian-German choreographer Enad Marouf refers to the origin of the term in ancient times. In Greece and Rome, the rising of Sirius, the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, was considered a special event. The dog days were feared as a time of heat, drought and unrest.
A special spatial situation was created for the performance: the audience sits on all four sides of the ballroom, the five performers act in the middle. At the beginning there are dull drum beats. The five dancers wander aimlessly through the room, sometimes directing their gaze at the audience and then closing their eyes as if they were lost in their memories.
Sometimes the dancers twist their bodies or fall to the side, but mostly they stand around expressionlessly and keep their distance from each other. Standstill and exhaustion – these are the states the performers are supposed to illustrate. But the dance remains vague. The actions do not condense into a mood that connects to today’s emotional states.
The evening does offer visual appeal. The dancers wear extravagant black outfits with boots and sturdy shoes. The two men, Jao Moon and Samuel Pereira, are particularly stylish, wearing lace-up corsets, silver earrings and necklaces. A similar look can be found among the international queer scene audience that has gathered here.
From a queer perspective
The performance and video artist Enad Marouf is one of the most interesting protagonists of the Berlin dance scene – and very popular at the moment. In March he was awarded the Will Grohmann Prize by the Academy of Arts. From a queer perspective, his works tell of memory and loss – the loss of familiar places, but also the loss of language and meaning.
In “Hundstage” every effort is made to create a dark mood. The music is a powerful mix of electronic music, choir singing and drum sounds.
The duet by Ewa Dziarnowska and Shade Théret varies small steps until it drifts into pseudo-expressiveness. Théret hits her abdomen with her hands and bends over. Dziarnowska, who is wearing black boots with a miniskirt, clenches her fist, slams her heel on the floor and looks challengingly at the audience. The women in particular keep stroking their hair thoughtfully. The dancers repeatedly fall into such clichés.
The dynamic duet of Samuel Pereira and Joao Moon combines running and jumping with flung-out arms. But the movements mostly seem arbitrary.
Even with the best will in the world, it is impossible to tell that the dancers are haunted by dark forebodings and driven by inner unrest. The scenes are drawn out without anything developing. Faced with an uncertain future, the dancers do not seek salvation in a community.
Conscious isolation
Although you repeatedly see two women or two men leaning against each other, intimacy is not created here. The performers quickly drift apart again. The isolation is a conscious choice by the choreographer, but it is not expressed in a compelling way.
When the dancers see black, it is usually just a pose. Towards the end, they form a chain and move past the audience in a path of light. When the hall darkens, they stand in front of a round window through which bright light shines. There is no hope in the group here, so their gaze is directed into an unreachable distance.
Further performances 14/15 June, 8 p.m. and 16 June, 6 p.m. in the Sophiensaele