Your dance inspired me. It was a kind of feeling, that I never felt before. Thank you for this experience!
Namedy Castle tread new cultural ground and opened its doors to dazzling international dance theatre.
This was a long-held dream of Princess Heide von Hohenzollern. The Princess was introduced to English dancer and choreographer Gary Lambert through friends. She invited him to visit her estate where he “fell in love” with the castle. The princess said “You can touch and feel the history in this house without it being a museum. I think he was inspired by that.”
Gary Lambert later called the Princess from London and suggested using Namedy Castle to stage his composition. Gary Lambert collaborated with three other renowned choreographers, Sue Lewis, Ben Craft and Fred Gehrig from British dance organisations
Contemporary dance is an art form that stimulates all of the senses. Its unique style takes you on a journey of exploration through body and soul.
Fred Gehrig opened the event performing “Ice Bear”, a piece that fused visual, choreographed and verbal elements. At one point, he addressed the audience on a big screen wearing a mask, only to then appear on stage wearing a mask that he later dropped. The performance was dedicated to Fred’s idols Merce Cunningham and Pina Bausch, who both passed away in 2009.
The next dance performance, “Five Dances”, was choreographed by Sue Lewis and presented by Megan Grifiths, Effie McGuire Ward and Mike Williams. A magical world with contrasting dance sequences and an atmospheric score.
This was followed by “Smudging and Clarity” by Ben Craft, which combined specially composed music and sound with choreography. Ben’s performance created a fusing point between sound and movement.
The final performance was “Synapsequence” by Gary Lambert, focusing on “movement as the starting point for exploration” (Gary Lambert).
As the curtain dropped, the artists were rewarded with well-earned applause for an unconventional concept.
Blog post by Michael Harbeke
Andernach Aktuell- German Newspaper
Image Fred Gehrig