Which bodies are considered active, energetic and productif in our society? Who is perceived as passive, weak, inactive? The philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre assumed that the individual defines himself only through his actions and thus also shaped a supposedly clear distinction in social consciousness between activity and passivity. In A performance is a long quiet river, Céline Bellut asks whether this distinction is still contemporary and criticizes the privileged perspective from which it emerged.

Our society, its architecture and infrastructure does not offer all bodies the same access to act freely, to move independently or to co-create our life together. Together with a team of two dancers, two visual artists and a music composer, Céline Bellut questions these structural conditions for what is understood as active action in a production between visual art and stage performance. 

The dance and movement language explores the performative potential of boredom, movement stagnation and non- productive actions by digging into different concept of passivity and amplify or customise theirs physical outcomes into a choreography as much as into absurd actions or shared thoughts.

In this way, A performance is a long quiet river also ends up exploring our existential fear of passivity, the inner struggles of wanting to be active, even in an environment where it is not necessary, like in a performance. Because doing nothing is usually the best way to start something.

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Choreography by Céline Bellut

Performance by Nejma Larichi and Jana Zöll

Music composition and dramaturgy by Jakob Lorenz

Stage design by Céline Bellut, Philipp Dreber and Saskia Holte

Stage design construction by Philipp Dreber

Costumes by Saskia Holte

Light design by Markus Becker 

Choreographic assistance by Jordan Gigout

Production direction by Caroline Skibinski 

Photo Documentation by Hans Diernberger

A co-production of Tanzhaus NRW Düsseldorf.

The production is supported by the : Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media within the framework of NEUSTART KULTUR. 

Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW State Office for the Performing Arts. Cultural Office of the City of Cologne. 

This project was realized with the support of FREIRAUM, collaborative conceptual and working space for the arts, and through the residency program Tanzatelier 0.10 in Quartier am Hafen.

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(c) Hans Diernberger