portrait 05 – ulrike doszmann
dance poetry of the absurd

Born in Dresden in the GDR (former East Germany), Ulrike Doszmann ended up studying theater dance at the Fontys Dance Academy in Tilburg (NL). She danced with RAZ, Panama Pictures, Vloeistof, among others, and created her own work, such as ‘Stalin’s Hamster’ and ‘White ear’. Dancing in public space has a special place in her oeuvre.

Geboren in Dresden in voormalig Oost-Duitsland belandde Ulrike Doszmann voor haar studie theaterdans aan de Fontys Dansacademie in Tilburg. Ze danste ondermeer bij RAZ, Panama Pictures, Vloeistof en maakte ook eigen werk zoals bijvoorbeeld ‘Stalin’s Hamster’, ‘Witoor’. Dansen in de publieke ruimte neemt een aparte plaats in in haar oeuvre.

plea for the unknown
pleidooi voor het onbekende

“dance poetry of the absurd”

starring artistportrait 05:

ulrike doszmann

text notes:

dresden *)
capital of the german state of saxony. was part of the communist former east germany (gdr) from 1949 to 1990

germanistiek *)
science of german language and literature. ulrike doszmann studied in greifswald, a small town in northern germany on the coast of the baltic sea.

eastern bloc folklore *)
concerns communities in former east germany with a common culture, corresponding morals, traditions, rituals and / or customs preserved from the past. people express themselves in specific local traditional costumes, dance and
music, among other things.

west side story *)
is the famous american musical by jerome robbins with music by leonard bernstein and lyrics by stephen sondheim. set in the mid-1950’s in manhattan’s upper west side, new york. the story depicts the rivalry of two gangs: the jets and the sharks, with a clear reference to the famous story of romeo and juliet (1591 william shakespeare).

film west side story *)
the first film adaptation of the musical west side story (united artists 1961) is directed by robert wise and jerome robbins from the script by ernest lehman. starring: maria: natalie wood and tony: richard beymer.

choreography *)
that is the art of drawing up dance moves for the purpose of a ballet. the term was first used by a dance master in paris: mister feuillet who wrote the booklet: chorégraphie, ou l’art d’écrire la danse par caractères, figures et signes démonstratifs / choreography, or the art of writing dance through characters, figures and demonstrative signs (1701).

snipe *)
simple repetitive dance move.

figure skating *)
figure skating is an olympic sport in which soloists, pairs and groups of skaters perform rotations, jumps and other fluid movements on the ice to music.

the wall *)
short for the berlin wall, more than 41 km long and 100 meters wide, surrounded west-berlin from 1961 – 1989. the city was thus completely separated from east-berlin. after the fall of the wall op november 9, 1989 the city (and germany)
was reunited again.

cenakel tilburg *)
in 1970 the dance academy and the conservatory were housed in the cenacle, the former convent on the south-west border of tilburg. in 1996 the dance academy and conservatory moved to the center of tilburg in a new building
(architect jo coenen) next to the theatre.

pia meuthen – panama pictures *)
since 2002 choreographer pia meuten has been the artistic director of the internationally operating dance company panama pictures. with this she developed an authentic signature: unpolished and raw, where dance, circus and music come together. In 2018 she received the prince bernhard culture prize – province of north brabant for her oeuvre.

sonja augart *)
performer and choreographer sonja augart studied modern dance in tilburg the netherlands, she is the driving force behind ‘fragmenta’ in berlin. she created dozens of choreographies and performances and toured the world. in 2013 she settled in berlin, where she works at the ‘uferstudios gmbh’, theater ‘sophiensaele’ and ‘tanz büro berlin’. current projects include
choreographier dich pfad’, ‘mapping dance’ and ‘choreographic radio’.

anja reinhardt en juri bongers – vloeistof *)
the dance company ‘vloeistof (‘fluid’) was founded in 2000 by anja reinhardt and juri bongers (✝︎). in a light-hearted and contemporary way, they visualize social issues where they happen, in the public outdoor space with surprising
performances on the water, in the middle of the city or on and around a car, for example. anja reinhardt has been a curator at ‘kaapstad tilburg’ since 2019 and since 2020 at the ‘being there festival’. yuri bongers was a dancer with a very unique way of moving. playful, a little rambunctious and very spirited. he passed away prematurely in 2021.

jetzt *)
dance performance ‘jetzt’ (‘now’) by juri bongers in collaboration with urlike doszmann, which premiered in tilburg in 2005 under the banner of ‘dance studios vloeistof’ (‘fluid’). the tour ended in chössi theater lichtensteig (Switzerland).

fontys *)
in addition to the dance academy, the ‘fontys’ art school in tilburg (its origin dates back to 1912) includes all kinds of other courses in the fields of music, theatre, visual arts and architecture and urbanism.

credits:

projects shown:

stalin’s hamster 2015

location: de nwe vorst tilburg netherlands
concept and performance: ulrike doszmann
assistant direction: leonard bedaux
assistant dramaturgy: laura las
camera and editing: joost van dijk

me & my fatboy 2014
location: willem II factory den bosch netherlands
concept and performance: ulrike doszmann
assistant direction: leonard bedaux
dramaturgy: laura las
camera and editing: joost van dijk
coproduction dance brabant
supported by bkkc
with many thanks to: fatboy
peerke malschaert
de nwe vorst
maudie der kinderen
mrs. las

weine nicht wenn … / don’t cry when… 2014
location: de nwe vorst tilburg netherlands
concept and performance: ulrike doszmann
direction: leonard bedaux
camera and editing: rudi klumpkens

tanzen auf dem malerwanderweg / dancing on the painter’s trail – rehearsal 2018
location: glass studio stef hagemeier – 360
glass libretto, stage design, direction: jan doms
dance: ulrike doszmann
composition and voice: evelien van den broek
camera: jan doms
editing: rudi klumpkens
supported by: brabant c fund & municipality tilburg

voor altijd samen en toch ook alleen / forever together and yet alone 2018
location: festival ‘november music’ den bosch
minimal music ‘the time we share’: tempo
composition: fred jacobson
dance: ulrike doszmann & batja ten kortenaar
with many thanks to: katrien – v/h bank van leening den bosch

wiersma & smeets with ulrike doszmann 2012
location: ruimte x
light animation: wiersma & smeets
dance: ulrike doszmann
with many thanks to: ernest potters (✝︎)

weiss / white 2016
concept and performance: ulrike doszmann
advice direction: leonard bedaux
advice dramaturgy: laura las
video: dries alkemade
coproduction: l’aventura studio & theater de nwe vorst.
with many thanks to: paradox tilburg

video portrait 05 ulrike doszmann
camera and video editing: tom pijnenburg
research, editorial, text titles: jan doms

leader:
graphic design: jan doms
opening sequence: pieter reijnen and tom pijnenburg
sound: aspa petrov – prefuse 73 dvořák
ernst bonis – composition taksim