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Offensive Tanz

Dance ambassador Valeria

"At the mercy of dancing"

"The Dancing Public" by Mette Ingvartsen – experienced and written down by Valeria, 14 years old

Valeria Golderer is one of five dance ambassadors commissioned by Offensive Tanz to explore Berlin's dance landscape. At Tanz im August, she saw the solo "The Dancing Public" by Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen for us at the Sophiensälen. According to the announcement, the piece "mixes ecstatic eruptions with pounding beats and is party, spoken word concert and expression of physical madness to the point of exhaustion all in one." Find out what it did for Valeria here.

If you want to become a Dance Ambassador:in yourself, feel free to check out our call for applications.

© Hans Meijer

Mette Ingvartsen "The Dancing Public"
17.08.2022 in Sophiensäle

No chairs, small podiums spread around the room, loud techno music, the crowd and a dancer. Full of energy. Obsessed with dance. A single person who carries everyone away. The urge to move was transmitted to the crowd. Some people danced right along, most bobbed to the beat and got involved in DANCING as time went on. But even though some people just stood still and watched, in every face I could see the excitement and curiosity for every next move. Every step, every twitch in the arms, just every movement was new or surprised you anyway.

She danced all over the room, between all of us, her movements wild, unpredictable, actually obsessive and almost inhuman. Her body was driven.

The loud music and the light made everything even more exciting. It was as if the rhythm of the music, the beat, pulsed in her veins. And when she danced at individuals, they were immediately carried away. In between, when she was completely spent on one of the podiums, as presented, I thought she was virtually at the mercy of the audience and totally surrendered to us. But later I realized that she was not completely at our mercy, but at the mercy of the dancing.

- Valeria

© Jonas Verbeke