Heißzeit (engl. Heatwave)

How could a body reflect, internalize, or visualize the natural consequences of a temperature increase on Earth?

In Heißzeit the body of performer Léonor Clary becomes the surface of heat developments. Her body sweats and melts. It empties and exhausts, then is refilled and restored to balance. Repetition. A hidden countdown begins. Amidst atmospheres of ecstasy and meditation, we witness a transforming body; from melting glaciers to storms and droughts. Natural moments are frozen, fast-forwarded, or rewound. Realities blur, and dreams become more tangible.

The piece tells of a journey to a point of no return (or a new beginning?). It is an observation of humans and climate, where the human becomes the creator of its own destiny. In collaboration with the Wuppertal Institute of science in climate change, the Wuppertal dance company Peculiar Man creates a performance proposing perspectives on heat development and the body.

Credits

Conceived, visualized and directed: Jan Möllmer
Performance an co-creation: Léonor Clary
Technical inventions: Baptiste Bersoux
Music collage: Baptiste Bersoux, Jan Möllmer
Outside Eye: Tsai-Wei Tien
Rehearsal assistants: Narumi Saso, Eva Pageix
Scientific mentors: Dr. Johannes Venjakob, Constanze Schmidt
Photography: Bastian Hessler, Andreas Kling, Alexander Lopéz Guerra, Ralf Silberkuhl
Videography (Teasers): Stsiapan Hurski

© A Peculiar Man production

Photo: Ralf Silberkuhl

Funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the NRW State Office for Performing Arts, and the Cultural Office of the City of Wuppertal.
With the kind support of the Bergisch Cultural Fund, the Fund for Art and Culture, the Dr. Werner Jackstädt Foundation, the Kalkwerke Oetelshofen Foundation, and the Wuppertaler Stadtwerke.
Created in collaboration with the Wuppertal Institute. Special thanks to the cooperation partners: Tanz Station - Barmer Bahnhof, CoWerk18, Insel e.V., and renaissance AG.

Photo: Ralf Silberkuhl

Tour Dates

21st of March 2024, Insel, Wuppertal, Germany
21th & 22nd of December 2023
, Factory Kaiser & Dicke, Wuppertal, Germany (premiere)

Heißzeit was shared for the first time as a work-in-progress at the Insel | Kultur im Ada in Wuppertal on November 10th 2023.
It exists in a 30 minutes version and a 50 minutes version.

Photo: Ralf Silberkuhl

“The Heißzeit-Team makes the world be on a drip, makes its protagonist melt and pant for air, fan herself with allegedly cold air, letting her blow earth as a blue balloon until it bursts, makes hurricanes become an endless sequence of names, commences a count down for the world.”
– Westdeutsche Zeitung

Photos 1 & 2: Bastian Hessler, 3: Ralf Silberkuhl

Photos: Bastian Hessler