OPEN REHEARSAL: Zeitgeist Kollektiv // Rhizome Collective

Alberto Curci (IT) & Zeitgeist Kollektiv: Hic et Nunc. Communication between plants and humans.

The Latin phrase Hic et Nunc literally means "here and now" and perfectly represents existence with its fragility and finite condition. 

What would happen if society lost fashions and models, schemes and figures to follow and imitate in order to be accepted, to feel 'complete', adequate; if the human being began to conceive of

technology as a support to what one is and not an indispensable condition to define what will be?

Hic et Nunc is a return to the primordial state and to the present moment, which allows both nature and technology to coexist in awareness of each other, projecting the human being to rediscover communication with the world around him, in a present lived without expectation of the future.

During the research, two machines are being used: the first one intercepts the electrical impulses of the plants and transforms them into customizable music. The second one intercepts the movements of the human body and transforms them into music.

Alberto Curci

- World champion of stage illusions in the "Fism" 2015 event;

- Awarded by the German Ministry of Culture and Media for research "Die illusion der zeit" and "hic et nunc";

- Worked as a dancer in China in collaboration with Cirque du soleil, Chimelong Circus and Chinese People's Circus;

- Second level UE qualification as technician of interpretation, conception and creation for classical and contemporary dance;

- Awarded by the Cambridge Magic Society for artistic excellence achieved.

Rhizome Dance Collective (SE, FI, PL, PT, GR, BR, NO): we are many and we are with many

During the residency at Red Sapata Sonnenstein Loft, we wish to engage further in our dance and performance practices, and to look deeper into the format of our collective which we consider a fertile ground for new artistic practices (both bodily and social) to grow. Our concerns and interests lie, after all, in the space between, which we consider the space of greatest learning. At the core of our collective exists togetherness. We see it as the simple practice of coming together on an everyday-life basis, but also the source of coming together in a greater sense, to oppose destructive forces and propose alternative ways to be. In that sense, our work is in experimenting with how we can expand and alter what coming and being together can look like. 

Rhizome is a dance and performance collective that was formed after a close collaboration with choreographer Amanda Piña (AT/MX/CL) and that consists of 14 women and queer dance artists located around Europe. Our practices have a strong base in collective work that focuses on resisting and working against capitalist (based on the exploitation of human and non-human alike), colonial (based on one world view oppressing other worlds), and extracting forces that are destroying our world and the beings within it. 

After a project in Spring 2022 in the North of Sweden (Boden & Luleå), involving performing, practice sharing and participating in a seminar of critical ecology and somatic practices, we branched out and created our collective, with the plan of developing artistic practices, teaching (and messing with the format of) workshops, and creating performance pieces. We are continuously working and experimenting with a hybrid form of real-life and online meetings, residencies and performances - growing in a rhizomatic way, as individuals, smaller groups, and the larger group at the same time.