Episode 8 out today! Listen to the conversation of Sean Pfeiffer and Sebastiano Sing. The work of Sebastiano, a Vienna-based choreographer and performer, has long been occupied with making space for big emotions. His piece MATHIEU was first developed in a TURBO residency at ImPulsTanz Festival 2022. Following its premiere in WUK Vienna’s project space, it was then presented at Schauspielhaus Vienna in the frame of [8:tension]. 

New Episode out now! Hello, Anne Lise Le Gac and Loto Retina. Her work La Caresse du Coma ft. YOLO is a multi-media performance, a lecture on digital chimeras, and an invitation to a strange and yet strangely familiar world. Together with musical collaborator Loto Retina, Anne-Lise transformed the Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz into a misty, spa-like space of uncertainties and fabricated truths. 

After their showings, the two of them sat down with writer Sean Pfeiffer. They discussed the role of levity and humor in their work, the productivity of not knowing for sure, and how their residency time at ImPulsTanz stimulated their creative partnership.

New Episode out today! Welcome Marga Alfeirão and her team. Marga’s work opens up spaces in which she is able to explore feminine sensuality and sexuality at her own pace. She and her team joined writer Sean Pfeiffer for a conversation before the second showing of their “lesbian lap dance duet” LOUNGE.

They discussed the reciprocal effect between the music and the dancers and the piece’s ebb and flow of energy and slowness. They also talk about the difficulties in balancing the public and the private while performing intimacy on stage.

James is a choreographer, dancer and dance teacher from Australia. Now based in Berlin, he works internationally. Before the second showing of his piece Shortcuts to Familiar Places at Schauspielhaus Vienna, James sat down with Chris Standfest. They discussed the ways in which James’ mentor Ruth Osborne as well as the legendary Gertrud Bodenwieser shaped the work.

They also touch on the specific excitement of showing it in Vienna, where Bodenwieser Lived before she had to flee from the Nazis. They further reflect on how expression or Ausdruckstanz is reentering the current dance landscape.

Harald’s first solo Batty Bwoy is both bleak and playful in its re-appropriation of racist and homophobic stereotypes. By embodying this harmful imagery, they emerge on the other side as a newly ambivalent figure, impossible to grasp. 

Writer Sean Pfeiffer and Harald talk about his inspirations for the piece, the musical collaboration with a Norwegian prog-rock band, and the delicacy of involving an audience directly. 

Esben is a Danish visual artist whose sculptures and performances have been shown at numerous galleries and festivals. Esben’s works tap into his generation’s habits of visual consumption. He has introduced short-attention-span tools like social media livestreams into traditional museum spaces in pieces like BURN!.

With the writer Sean Pfeiffer, Esben discusses his experiences as a visual artist at a contemporary dance festival. They also talk about the heavy use of pop-cultural signifiers and accessing the authentic through the artificial.

Anna is a Hungarian dancer and choreographer based between Vienna and Stockholm. Her work often deals with bodily memory, cultural identity, and dance as a means of communication. The group choreography DELICATE has been equally shaped by these themes. The work features three female dancers who grew up in different European and Eastern European contexts – namely Karin Pauer in Austria, Adél Juhász in Hungary and 
Sasha Portyannikova in Russia.

After presenting DELICATE at Kasino am Schwarzenbergplatz, Anna sat down with author Sean Pfeiffer. They discussed the role of writing in the development of the piece, Anna’s decision not to perform herself, and her collaboration with musician Rozi Mákó.

Chara is a performer, choreographer and dance instructor based in Athens, Greece. She has studied Theatre Studies as well as Social and Cultural Anthropology and is musically trained. Her artistic practice merges choreography with field recordings, sound collage and writing.

She sat down with author Sean Pfeiffer to discuss her first solo work to be possessed. It premiered at the Onassis Dance Days in Athens before being presented at Schauspielhaus Vienna in the frame of ImPulsTanz – Vienna International Dance Festival. In their conversation, the two touch upon the myth of artistic ecstasy, the comfort of routine, and the similarities between contemporary dance and poetry.

The artists of the [8:tension] Young Choreographers' Series of 2023 were in conversation with Chris Standfest and Sean Pfeiffer and we are excited to publish this podcast from today on. 

The first released episodes will be with Chara Kotsali and Anna Biczók. They are giving insights into their working methods and artistic approaches, the making of their pieces To Be Possessed and DELICATE, respectively, and their experience in Vienna.

The release will start on Thursday 21 March, with weekly new episodes. Save us on Spotify Apple Podcast, Podcastaddict or Deezer!