Léonard Engel: How to get rid of a body – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin
Léonard Engel:
How to get rid of a body

How to get rid of a body
Synthetic moss, zebra patterns, green screens and magic tricks. In a series of short films, choreographer and performer Léonard Engel relentlessly tries to leave his own body behind. Referencing YouTube tutorials, animal documentaries or meditation videos, he twists, chops, multiplies limbs and body images, oscillating between creature in hiding, hunting figure and morphing monster.
An alienation through visual trickeries doomed to fail and shatter, exposing a body that reminds us of its material existence and its own mortality.
A SERIES OF FILMS BY AND WITH Léonard Engel VIDEO DIRECTOR, COLOR GRADING Jubal Battisti VIDEO ASSISTANT, EDITING Harumi Terayama COMPOSITION Korhan Erel DRAMATURGICAL CONSULTATION Isa Köhler VOICEWORD Patricia Schon COSTUME ADAPTATION Fabienne Swerling GRAPHICS Susanne Seiferth PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT Miria Wurm TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT, LIGHTING, INDOORDREH Wolfgang Eibert
A production by Léonard Engel in cooperation with HochX - Theater und Live Art München e.V. Supported by Fonds Darstellende Künste within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. With the kind support of the Nuremberg Forestry Office of the Bavarian State Forestry.
LÉONARD ENGEL, born in France, is a Berlin and Munich based performer and choreographer. He started his career as a ballet dancer at the Bavarian State Ballet, before becoming a freelance artist. He has worked with Laurent Chétouane, Meg Stuart, Moriah Evans, Paula Rosolen, Gintersdorfer/Klaßen and the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch among others. His choreographic work focuses on the body and the alteration of its perception through movement, costumes and states of being. His first piece, Pavane, premiered in 2019 as part of the Tanztage Berlin at Sophiensaele, followed the same year by How to get rid of a body. A magic manual. Parotia, his first group piece, was created in November 2021. He’s currently working on the subject of masculinity in dance, and the “depatriarcalisation” of the representation of the male body on stage. Léonard’s pieces have been invited to Hybrid Festival (Berlin), Soundance Festival (Berlin) and the Rodeo Festival (Munich). For his choreographic work, he’s been granted residencies in Tanzfabrik Berlin and in PACT Zollverein (Essen, GE).
-
© Léonard Engel -
© Léonard Engel -
© Léonard Engel