Sophienstrasse 18
10178 Berlin-Mitte
Saison 24/25
Dance/Performance Ticket Premiere
20:00
Hochzeitssaal
Dance Ticket Premiere
20:00
Hochzeitssaal
Dance Ticket
20:00
Hochzeitssaal
Dance Ticket
20:00
Hochzeitssaal
Dance Ticket
Dance theater Ticket Premiere
Dance theater Ticket
Dance theater Ticket
Dance theater Ticket
Tanz Ticket Premiere

Yui Kawaguchi:
Mugen

Mugen_c_Mendora HP
Yui Kawaguchi:
Mugen
Dance + Music
Few to no language

Premiere

For your safety and ours, the event will be held in compliance with the 2G+++ regulation:

  • proof of vaccination/recovery AND PoC antigen test no older than 24 hours
  • Exception: For persons whose third vaccination was at least 15 days ago, additional testing is not required.
  • Obligation to wear a medical mask also during the show
  • 3G exceptions requiring proof for persons under 18 years of age and persons for whom vaccination is not possible for medical reasons
  • Seating with 1 meter distance
  • Our complete safety and hygiene measures can be found here.

Am I a man who had dreamed he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was a man? – Zhuangzi The Butterfly Dream

Yui Kawaguchi translates in Mugen (Japanese: illusion, infinity) the classical elements of Japanese Nō theatre into a hypnotic interplay of dance, music and light. In a fast-paced choreography, Joy Alpuerto Ritter seems to outright fly through an installation on stage. She is fueled by Mohammad Reza Mortazavi, who single-handedly creates a sound atmosphere of orchestral quality with his instruments. Although each element exists in its own cosmos, a trance-like flow is created through ever new encounters, changing tempos and incidences of light, dissolving the boundaries between fantasy and reality, dream and wakefulness.

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The piece lasts about 1 hour and is without speech. In some moments the stage and the audience area are completely dark. The sound from the percussion instruments is at times very intense and loud. The piece is suitable for an audience of 12 years and older. The audience area on the grandstand is seated. There are two wheelchair spaces and one beanbag seat that can be reserved by phone or booked via the online ticket shop, if available. Admission begins 20-30 minutes prior to show time. We recommend arriving early to select a suitable seat. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Gina Jeske at jeske@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35.

Click HERE to find information about our performance spaces and pathways, accessible restrooms, parking, directions to the theater, a 360° video tour of the building, and more.

CONCEPT, CHOREOGRAPHY Yui Kawaguchi BY AND WITH Joy Alpuerto Ritter (Dance), Mohammad Reza Mortazavi (Music) STAGE DESIGN Acci Baba COSTUME Sadak LIGHT, Technician Fabian Bleisch DRAMATURGE Rosi Ulrich PRODUCTION Ilja Fontaine

A production by Yui Kawaguchi | Mendora and NICO AND THE NAVIGATORS, in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE, MA scène nationale - Pays de Montbéliard and WEHR51, funded by the City of Cologne. Media partner: taz. die tageszeitung

YUI KAWAGUCHI has been working in Berlin since 2005. In addition to her collaboration with Nico and the Navigators, she shows her own compositions of movement, space, light and sound worldwide, in which the dancing body is rediscovered. Milestones are andropolaroid (Cologne Dance Award 2010) and the multimedia production MatchAtria. In 2019, she co-choreographed Flying Pictures by Flying Steps at Hamburger Bahnhof, and in 2020 she developed Suor Angelica with Kirill Petrenko and Nicola Hümpel at the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2020 Kawaguchi is developing DisTanz with Ruben Reniers (Faust Annual Prospectus 2021). 2021 saw the world premieres of SUITE CUBIC with Julia Kursawe and Daniel Mandolini at the Konzerthaus Berlin and Somewhere, Everywhere, Nowhere with Alison Currie at the OzAsia Festival in Adelaide. 

JOY ALPUERTO RITTER (born 1982 in Los Angeles/ USA) completed her training at the Palucca Dance School in Dresden in 2004. Since then she has worked as a contemporary freelance dancer with many choreographers, including Christoph Winkler, Akram Khan and Wangramirez. In 2016 she was nominated as "outstanding dancer" (modern) at the National Dance Awards UK. As a choreographer she became internationally known with her own solo work Babae, which premiered at Sophiensælen as part of the Witch Dance Project 2016, and is one of the Aerowaves artists 2020. She works as (associate) choreographer with Akram Khan, Chen Shi-Zheng, Riz Ahmed, Viviana Durante, Florence + the Machine and supports other academic institutions in Austria, Germany, Italy and Beijing.

MOHAMMAD REZA MORTAZAVI lives in Berlin as a composer and musician. He plays Tombak and Daf, two percussion instruments that have influenced him since his childhood in Isfahan, Iran. Inspired by sounds of everyday life and nature, his emotional connection to life is transformed into pulsating and polyphonic rhythms. The award-winning musician presents his music both solo, e.g. at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall or the Sydney Opera House, and in international projects with other musicians, e.g. Rundfunkchor Berlin, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, as well as producers, theaters and dancers.

  • Mugen_c_Mendora HP
    © Mendora
  • MUGEN (c)Issei_Suzuki2 HP
    © Suzuki
  • ©BriceROBERT 26_HP
    © Ma Scène Nationale Montbéliard
  • MUGEN MA Scène Nationale Montbéliard
    © Ma Scène Nationale Montbéliard
  • MUGEN MA Scène Nationale Montbéliard2
    © Ma Scène Nationale Montbéliard
  • MUGEN MA Scène Nationale Montbéliard3
    © Ma Scène Nationale Montbéliard
  • By playing the video, I agree to Vimeo's privacy policy and thus also to the data transfer from Vimeo to the USA.
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