sarma

This review was originally published in German; this English version has been commissioned by the author and done by Charlotte Kreutzmüller

The first part of Riki von Falken's trilogy on farewell had no place for anything light in its arrangement of pain and unrest. Now the bare, slightly tapering box-room is at least hung with a shimmering white opera screen at the back. After all the distress, in "one more than one" von Falken once again sees a horizon. Shot through with reminiscences of the previous pieces, "White Linen" and "Wach" (tanzdrama 58, 2001), she spiritedly feels her way back into a new life of calmness and self-assurance.

With rapidly articulated, mechanical arm movements, striking in front of and behind the body like parts of a motor, she presents herself on the stage of the Theater am Halleschen Ufer, Berlin: still rooted to the spot, but filled with the wish to progress, to appropriate the space. Again and again she stands still, lets her hands glide along her body, as if to find herself, to make sure of her boundaries. Sometimes this is a gesture of tenderness, but mostly it expresses more a kind of wonderment. These gentle self-embraces form a recurring motif. Contrasting with them are the walks and runs, driven mostly by the angular compositions of Steve Reich, Heiner Goebbels, Beat Furrer. Often the forward motion arrives at triumphant, liberated poses; balanced figures of sometimes balletic, crystalline severity. And more and more, something like cheerfulness, even frivolity, flashes up, with a teasingly bent hip and wide diagonal, legs-apart position.

With classical severity of form, Riki von Falken composes a whole life story. At one point, she keeps the palms of her hands and her lower arms locked in front of her face. In an incidental, but clearly controlled gesture she moves the barrier aside, thus opening to her view a window on the world - and to the audience as well. Again and again, von Falken wrests dimension from the movement and a clear moment of character from the limitless wealth of inner feelings. Presence of mind and depth of emotion combine to create a sculptural apparition, the flow of which repeatedly celebrates dance in an entirely emphatic sense, as a joyful gesture. "one more than one" marks both a completion and a new beginning.