so long

An evening of dance with four decades of choreographies by Christine Brunel

Schritte (2003)
Part of assemblage
Dance: Christine Brunel
Music: Melzer / Harris / Morgan
Costume Design: Christine Brunel

It is about detaching oneself from the exterior space,
a shift to the interior.

Cambré No 1 – Harmonie (1995)
Dance: Francesco Pedone, Annelise Soglio
Music: .Axel Vent
Costume Design: Christine Brunel

Frau mit blauer Kugel (1987)
– dedicated to Wolfgang Classen –
Dance: Ilana Reynolds
Music: Alexandr Arutjunjan, Frederic Chopin, Charly Antolini
Costume Design: Sigrid Lachnitt

Cambré No 2 – Symbiose (1995/98)
Dance: Francesco Pedone, Annelise Soglio
Music: Axel Vent
Costume Design: Christine Brunel

Dance, an infinite energy, bound to time and space,
communicates a piece of life.

Francis (1998)
Dance: Francisco Cuervo
Music: Terdje Rypdal
Costume Design: according to the original design by Sigrid Lachnitt

He follows the movement, surrenders himself,
listens to it like one listens to the sound of music.
He does not dance – he is being danced.

Nazaré (2010)
Dance: Francesco Pedone
Music: Silence
Costume Design: Christine Brunel
This solo takes its title from a photograph by H.C. Bresson from 1955.

The dance relies on the echo it leaves in the viewer.

This evening of dance was created to honour Christine Brunel's "milestone birthday" in 2011.

Four decades of artistic activity – that is a long and creative time. More than 50 choreographies were created, from group pieces to duos and solos. Countless national and international guest performances took Christine Brunel almost everywhere across the globe. She was awarded for her services to contemporary dance in Colombia and her work as a dance teacher earned her international renown. She was the first German choreographer to create choreographies for the Russian Provincial Dances company in the 1990s and present their work in Germany.

She made Essen her artistic home in the 1980s. For Christine Brunel it is a place where she can live and work in peace – at the centre of Europe. Ever since, she has been a permanent art institution in the city and in North Rhine-Westphalia. Both city and state have steadfastly supported and funded her artistic work, as did other institutions, foundations, sponsors and friends. Their support enabled Christine Brunel to follow her artistic path with great consistency, full of dedication, seriousness and love; the quest for the essence of movement, the individual and yet universal expression; the eternal exploration and search; the clarity and interiority; the poetry and lightness; the challenge and, always, the giving of one's self.
"Bon anniversaire," Christine Brunel! And may you remain agile for many years (as a child wrote to you after a performance of The Dancers' Workshop).

Tonja Wiebracht

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Premiered on March 25th, 2011

Artistic Direction: Christine Brunel
Light Design: Reinhard Hubert
Assistance: Martina Candelo
Dramaturgy: Tonja Wiebracht

so long was produced by BRUNEL.TANZ.CIE

Partners:
Ministerium für Familie, Kinder, Jugend, Kultur und Sport des Landes NRW
Kulturbüro der Stadt Essen
Geneviève Giannakakos

In collaboration with Maschinenhaus Essen