Florentina Holzinger's TANZ, featuring a captivating North American premiere at NYU Skirball, intertwines circus art with ballet, celebrating female powerhouse performances. The show showcases breathtaking feats, including a naked performer suspended by hooks, evoking a profound response from the audience. Holzinger subverts traditional 19th-century Romantic ballets, infusing them with modern intensity and physical extremes. The production is anchored by a focus on female cast members, inviting exploration of beauty, endurance, and artistic expression, challenging both the parameters of ballet and audience expectations through visceral artistry.
A naked woman hangs just off the ground by two hooks stuck through the skin of her back. As a small amount of blood drips from the wounds onto the stage, the audience can't help but inhale sharply and cover their faces.
Holzinger is specifically interested in 19th century Romantic ballets like Giselle or La Sylphide, which put women en pointe to evoke flying spirits.
TANZ takes this historical anchor and subverts its tranquility by pairing pointe shoes with more extreme bodily feats of levitation.
Act I opens with a disciplined stunt that is rarely seen as the grotesque spectacle that it is: the ballet class.
Collection
[
|
...
]