Mythical creatures embody a variety of fears: the potential of chaos to overcome order, of irrationality to prevail over reason, the potential victory of the earthen wild over the encroaching civilizations of mankind. They arise from the desire to domesticate and disempower what a dominant culture finds threatening. Also known as Pan, the faun was the Greek god of the wild, masculine fertility, and sexuality. Simultaneously sinister and prophetic, he frolicked with nymphs and protected the forest.
In The Faun this effigy is used to explore how power has been built and held through mythologies and how it might transform. As a famous example of the canonization of a mythical creature into western ideology, the work begins with a reconstruction of the ballet L’Après Midi d’un Faune by Vaslav Nijinsky – an entry point to the re-appropriation and transformation of this sneaky goat-god. From there, the work deals with the movement of molding and becoming, a study in transformation and, when taken, the agency therein, a mash-up between magic, mythology and how power moves through the beat of a beast.
If any questions remain from the following information, please feel free to contact Hannah Aldinger at or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).
Duration
- 40 minutes
Language
- English spoken language
Light
- The lighting situation on stage is rather bright.
Sound
- Loud music is used (drums and bass).
Audience area
- Seated grandstand
- 2 beanbag seats bookable according to availability
- 2 wheelchair seats bookable according to availability
Early boarding
If, for artistic reasons, the door to the auditorium does not open until very shortly before the performance begins, there is the option of early boarding.
Tickets
- Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
- Via the online ticket shop
- At the box office
You can also find more information about accessibility here.
Camila Malenchini is an Argentinian choreographer and artist based in Berlin. Her artistic practice crosses diverse media; from choreography and sculpture to digital media and curating. Her work begins with the body and questions the potentiality of imagination. She completed her studies in Choreography at HZT (Berlin). Her choreographic work has been presented (a.o.) at Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), DOCK 11 (Berlin), Fundación Andreani (Buenos Aires), Centro Cultural Konex (BsAs), Arqueologias del Futuro (BsAs) and supported by Akademie Der Künste, Fonds Darstellende Kunst and NPN.
Layton Lachman is a US-American artist based in Berlin. They create performances rooted in somatics, channelling experiential practices into immersive, sensorially complex worlds. Layton is interested in a practice centered on group study and collective authorship — with the understanding that we are always collaborating with those who come before, after, and with us. Their practice includes staged works, films, one-on-one encounters, performance installations, and audio tours. Additionally, Layton is an independent curator / host, most recently working in the context of Lotto Royale NYC.
ronald Berger is a dancer and performer from Costa Rica and lives in Berlin. The connection to nature and its performative qualities have shaped ronald. The conflict between their sexuality and the strongly catholic, chauvinistic context in their home country inspires debates, analyses, and questions about social behavior.
Louise Trueheart is a Berlin-based performer and writer whose work explores the politics of belief and form, and how these operate in the world and in dance. She is a founding member of queer feminist collective COVEN BERLIN and the editor-in-chief of COVEN’s eponymous online magazine. As a performer, Louise has worked for Tino Sehgal, Lester St. Louis, Nikima Jagudajev, and Peaches (dramaturgy). She is published in an anthology on Curating and Radical Care published by Sternberg Press, is a new writer for PW magazine, and runs a popular Substack about dance and devotion, entitled “5, 6, 7, 8.”
Fjóla Gautadóttir is an Icelandic Performer, Sound Designer, Writer and DJ. They have a background both in classical dance and music and finished a BA in Dance and Choreography from HZT Berlin in 2019 and have since been working actively as a Sound Designer in the Berlin dance and performance scene, integrating their background in dance into composing sound landscapes for dance.
Their sound practice has focused heavily on thinking through the pop song, and its cover-form. Through reproduction, intimation, distortion, sampling and repetition, reimagining the source material becomes a building block through which new and various forms are built: from soothing mantra to ear piercing cacophony.
Arta de Mi (heteronym of Dani Paiva de Miranda, also known as Mundo), is a performer and experimental artist. His work crosses diverse media and ecologies, exploring the transfiguring power of experience. Nowadays her objective is to synthesize the digital and the organic into formless matter. Arta de Mi investigates the horizontal relationship between matter and energy, denying the separation of matter into form and refraining from a linear sequence of time. This practice leads to questions about the dynamics of power and violence, challenging conventional notions. Employing light design, light installation, performance art (actions and happenings), sound and choreography, they channel an emotional and sensory experience. Arta is resident Light Designer at Dock11 Berlin and has MA in visual culture at Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid.
Concept, direction: Camila Malenchini
Performance: Layton Lachman, Ron Berger, Camila Malenchini
Dramaturgical support: Louise Trueheart, Dandan Liu
Special guest: rara
Sound design: Fjola Gautadóttir
Sound support: Andrea Parolin
Light design: Arta de Mi
Set design: Camila Malenchini
Support set design: Thais Ribeiro
Costume: Anne Marina Fidler
Artistic support: Sarah Parolin, Auro Orso, Marga Alfeirão
Vocal coaching: Harald Stojan
Special thanks to: Ethan Folk, Ivanka Tramp
A production by Camila Malenchini in co-production with Sophiensæle. The 33rd Tanztage Berlin are a production of Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and the Capital Cultural Fund (HKF). With the kind support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e. V., Theaterhaus Berlin Mitte. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy, Siegessäule and taz.