#3 Chris Leuenberger / Marcel Schwald (Berne / Basel)
Touch Isolation (2021)
For the third portrait in the documentary series Choreographers at Work! Michelle Ettlin and Mona De Weerdt follow the choreographer/dancer Chris Leuenberger and the director/author Marcel Schwald during the creative process for Touch Isolation. In this piece Leuenberger/Schwald, together with three US-American male dancers and one musician, look at the patriarchal and homophobic reservations and (im)possibility of touch between men and address learned male physicality as well as the socialisation processes and personal stories that underpin it.
The portrait captures the choreographic and physical confrontation with these topics as well as the development of movement sequences and texts. The film shows how Leuenberger/Schwald explore and portray but also question and deconstruct different physicalities and ideals of masculinity with the group.
Duration: 24 Minutes
Note: When filming at Dampfzentrale, photographs were taken at the same time to document the process. Accordingly, there are flashes in this part.
Credits
Concept: Mona De Weerdt, Michelle Ettlin
Camera, editing, post-production: Michelle Ettlin
Dramaturgy: Mona De Weerdt, Michelle Ettlin
Translation: Anna Johannsen
Production: echolot films / mdw Kulturproduktionen
Co-production: Macek Retrograd Produktionen / Chris Leuenberger Produktionen
Distribution: Maxinthewood Productions
with:
Chris Leuenberger (artistic direction, choreography, dance)
Marcel Schwald (artistic direction)
André Chapatte, Andy Santana, Brandon Woods (co-choreography, dance)
Thomas Jeker (music, sound, performance)
Merel Heering (dramaturgy)
Jonas Gillmann (outside eye)
Salome Egger (costume and stage design)
Manuel Zizzari (production assistance)
Locations: Dampfzentrale Bern, Tanzhaus Zürich, Kaserne Basel, Probebühne Kaserne Basel im KLARA, HELLERAU - European Centre for the Arts
Supported by the Federal Office of Culture / Dance as Cultural Heritage, Kultur Stadt Bern, SWISSLOS/Kultur Kanton Bern, the Ernst Göhner, Corymbo, Alexis Victor Thalberg and Sophie and Karl Binding Foundations, Migros Culture Percentage. The translation is financed by: Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council and the Oertli Foundation
Partners: Reso – Dance Network Switzerland, SAPA Foundation – Swiss Archive of the Performing Arts
© echolot films / mdw Kulturproduktionen / Macek Retrograd Produktionen / Chris Leuenberger Produktionen / Maxinthewood Productions 2021
pictures rehearsals at Dampfzentrale Bern © Michelle Ettlin