Dance Ambassadors Mira and Etchi
"...experiencing this sense of freedom."
Interview with Farah Deeh and Olivia Mitterhuemer of Potpourri Dance
The performance PUSH by Farah Deeh and Olivia Mitterhuemer of Potpourri Dance was created as part of the RAUSGEHEN project in autumn 2023 in cooperation with the Hector-Peterson-Schule.
Olivia and Farah have been dancing together ‘House’ since their youth and are known not only in their homes in Vienna and Salzburg, but also through successful tours in many other places. In autumn 2023, as part of the RAUSGEHEN project, they gave several dance workshops for school classes to the Offensive Tanz für junges Audience at the Hector-Peterson-Schule Berlin and were inspired by the work with the young people who developed House Dance Performance PUSH. The piece was premiered on 14.11.23 as part of the Offensive Fachtage Equity im Tanz an der Schule.
The workshops were very well received by the students, and many hope that Olivia and Farah will start such a project again the next time they are in Berlin.
With phrases such as ‘the workshop was great and a lot of fun!’, students described what they had experienced. They especially enjoyed the dance-battle-like atmosphere, which arose when Olivia and Farah presented some dance sessions to the classes in the middle of a seating circle. In fact, there was later also a real dance battle in the gymnasium of the school at the end of the ‘Equity in Dance’ specialist day, where Olivia was part of the jury. Previously, however, the performance PUSH by Olivia and Farah took place, at whose rehearsal we were already allowed to watch once in the gym.
“For me, the most important thing about dancing is that I always reach this flow state, so when dancing not only feels like work and I also have these spiritual moments from time to time. And the fire is kind of burning.”
Then we asked the two of them a little bit:
How did you come to ‘House’ and what do you like most about it?
House Dance is a dance style that we got to know 15 years ago, in a studio in Salzburg. Since then, we have been at home in house dance, but also in hip hop, locking, popping, just like in various street and club styles. We have started to dance shows ourselves and are also on the road a lot in theaters with our dance repertoire. We also organize dance battles and are active as battle dancers. During several research trips to America and Asia, we learned more about this dance culture, which has meanwhile developed in many places.
House Dance originated in America - in the late 70s, early 80s - in clubs: It doesn't come from the street, as many people think. House has been shaped mainly by marginalized groups, by a queer community. We deal a lot with the origins and development of the dance style and where house dance is located today.
Which place did you like best on your tours?
It's a tough question. We were once in New York, as a couple, on a research trip where we just went a lot to clubs, parties and the dance studio, we just totally immersed ourselves in the house culture. And just look: What is it really like in New York? What is it like in America, where house dance was created?
It's also very exciting in Paris - we were there last year. We created a piece there and realized that the club culture is completely different. As well as the culture and population there in general. On site, there were other factors that shaped and made the club culture possible. In addition, the house dance scene is simply much larger than in Austria.
So Paris and New York are definitely the house dance and music metropolises you should have been to.
We are always fascinated by the fact that people have felt so comfortable in this style and these clubs. Because they found their families there and were able to live out this sense of freedom.
What does dance mean to you?
Dancing is simply a valve to break out of everyday life, to dance your head free, to solve various problems. So, for example, also from the feeling of being under pressure, which we also treat in the performance PUSH.
And it is usually (not always natural) a very nice feeling to feel your own body and express yourself with the body. Not with words, but simply with your own body. In addition, house dance as a dance style is very strongly tied to the music, with other dance styles this may be less the case. But House lives full of this very bass-heavy, strong music. And it's just nice to express yourself to let yourself be driven by the music.
So would you say ‘house’ is a dance style that could not exist without music?
You can dance the style even without house music, but basically both belong together. The origin of the dance style is the house music of the clubs.
Now we go out of the clubs, into the studios or on the theater stages. But without house music, you take an important element away from the style. I don't know if I would call it house dance.
Would you describe your dance as a kind of ‘alternative to words’?
Yeah, definitely. And the language I've learned in recent years is house dance and hip hop.
Why do you dance in duet? What is so special about it for you?
So we got to know each other at the age of 12-13 in a hip hop course, and then started dancing championships relatively early with a group of girls. At some point we were - with various ups and downs - only two.
Now we have our club, which we founded in 2006. We have also organized a battle and have grown very close together. Both professionally and amicably, we have experienced a lot together. Through many experiences we have always stayed there (even full-time), and that as a duo, which does not happen so often.
What were your dream jobs as a child?
When I look at my friend books from before, it says: ‘flower picker’. I always wanted to be a psychologist.
Have you always loved dancing?
So I think I've been dancing since I can walk - there are a lot of videos of me as a child where I dance. And then I attended the first course at the Volkshochschule when I was six years old.
Funnily enough, we both said in an interview at the age of 18 that we never wanted to be full-time dancers, because it would be work and not so much fun. That's why this fun factor is so important to us.
What was the worst reaction you've ever had to a dance piece?
I once did a solo piece with a company about my Muslim and Christian roots. There I was veiled on stage and then also unveiled and danced on a carpet unveiled. Afterwards, a person from the audience came to me and was very excited that it couldn't be done. That was the most violent reaction that comes to mind and that just shows what art can trigger.
On the other hand, there have already been people who have looked at a piece over and over again and cried every time because it touched them so much.
What experience have you had here at the Hector Peterson School?
It was very cool. In total, we conducted workshops with at least six different classes. After the dance workshops, we exchanged ideas with the students. With the themes that came up there, we started to create a piece. For samples in front of other classes, we then received direct feedback on the piece development. This was a very special process because we've never received so much feedback right away before, and so much honest, unfiltered feedback from students who don't go to the theater every day now. It was also an experience of success that many students, in whom the teachers had predicted that they often did not work so much in class, then came out fully of themselves in the dance rounds, made quite active contributions and were fully absorbed. That was nice.
Are you very excited before you show up?
Yes, but usually you are also very happy and a bit of lamp fever is just important. Otherwise it would be boring at some point.
A little thrill is always there when you step on stage. One is then fully occupied with one's own body and also speaks from one's soul somehow, which of course is always an overcoming.
What do you do when you get a blackout on stage?
This happens every now and then. But just keep going, we've learned this over and over again at the show championships: Just pretend it's planned. We keep reminding ourselves that the audience doesn't really know what we want to do.
Is it hard to make money with dancing?
So we're doing well, but you have to keep up with it all the time and generate new jobs that usually don't just fly to you. You have to work hard for it, but I don't think we can complain. We live well and are satisfied.
But sometimes you have several projects at the same time and sometimes none at all. It's always up and down. You have to get used to it if you want to work independently as a dancer. But you notice: The more you put in, the more will come back at some point.
Thanks for the interview Olivia and Farah!
