


What is joy when its ephemerality and fragility tend towards its own dissolution? In this new work the performers embody the emotional complexity of joy which constantly collapses. In a visually playful set where three human- sized sculptures are placed the performers unfold a choreographic swing of of joy that turns into horror. “Arcana Swarm” is a new HAU production for seven
performers and the third part of the work cycle “The Staggered Dances of Beauty,” which deals with scenarios and varieties of our bodies exposed in a radically changing world. For this piece, Válastur works again with the technique of “morphing” as a transformative force. The body shows the affects and effects that derive from the tensions of the current technological, environmental and political conditions
of a precarious and anthropocentric world.
Concept, script & choreography: Kat Válastur/ Performance: Juan Pablo Cámara, Ixchel Mendoza Hernandez, Gaetano Montecasino, Ogbitse Omagbemi, Tamar Sonn, Sarah Stanley, Tiran Willemse / Light design: Martin Beeretz / Sound desigh: Peter Breitenbach / Set design: Leon Eixenberger / Costume: Kat Válastur / Dramaturgical advice: Einav Katan-Schmid, Maja Zimmermann / Outside eye: Alexandra Balona / Yiannis Papachristos / Assistance choreography: Kévin Quinaou / Production management: HAU Artist Office / Sabine Seifert / Touring & distribution: HAU Artist Office / Nicole Schuchardt
Production: Kat Válastur / HAU Hebbel am Ufer. Supported by: The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès as part of its New Settings Program.
Co-production: Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Theater Freiburg. Funded by: Capital Cultural Fund (Berlin), Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe. Residency support: STUK Leuven, Tanzhaus Zürich, Centrale Fies / Live Works.