© Reto Schmid
Performance
Sister or he buried the body
Trajal Harrell
March 11 – 12, 2025
Running time: 30'
Trajal Harrell is considered one of the most important choreographers working in contemporary dance today. In Sister or he buried the body, Harrell combines vogueing – a modern dance style developed in the late 1980s from the Harlem ballroom scene – with formal and gestural ideas derived from Butō dance, which originated in Japan in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Weaving links between two seemingly distant cultures, the artist puts the body at the centre of his research, exploring the ways in which it becomes a receptacle of memory, the past and historical characters who have inspired this work. Intertwining notions of time, history and transcultural references, it reveals the multitude of layers that make up the richness of history of contemporary dance.
Trajal Harrell has gained international recognition for creating a series of works that combine the tradition of vogueing with early postmodern dance. Harrell has had his work presented internationally in major theatres, festivals and museums. In 2023, Harrell was invited to create a work for the prestigious Cour d’honneur at the 77th Festival d’Avignon. Later that same year, the Festival d’Automne in Paris dedicated a portrait to him, presenting nine of his works. From 2019 to 2024, Harrell was in-house director at Schauspielhaus Zürich, where he founded his own company. In 2024 Harrell has been awarded the Silver Lion of the Venice Biennale of Dance.
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Credits
Choreography and dance, installation, costumes and soundtrack: Trajal Harrell
Dramaturgy: Sara Jansen
Co-produced by: Ludwig Forum Aachen, MUDAM, 13th Gwangju Biennale, Aichi Triennale, Schauspielhaus Zürich and CND - Centre national de la danse
