"Flower•Wine•Moon•Me",
Novemer 2010 Bergamo, Italy
Review is in Italian. But help yourselves.... Pdf.
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"Das Oklo Phänomen", 2008-2009
"Robert Wechsler and his Palindrome Dance Company ... has come up
with a surprise. Palindrome, long known for its extensive use of computer
high-tech ... prudently chose to return to the creative potential of analogue.
Instead of experiementing with digital games, Wechsler brought live dance,
music, acrobatics and theater into an entertaining episodic work that
takes a serious theme and surrounds it with humor and charm.
In so doing, he gets the best harmony out of a multi-national troupe:
three excellent dancers, and a jazz pianist from Istanbul (who also proved
a virtuoso accompanist on the melodica) who made a gripping contrast with
an electronic sound collage, a dangerous fire artist and Wechsler as laid-back
show master who tells us what "The Oklo Phenomenon" is all about.
Namely that Catastrophies can sometimes have a purifying effect. Shortly
before the end of the piece, physicist's son Wechsler explains that event
which lends the piece its title. The really enormous catastrophy once
happened in African Oklo, the uranium-richest area on earth. There, a
nuclear chain reaction occurred and a human catastrophy was avoided only
because humans did not yet exist.
Before this, we learn of private catastrophies, which echo through people's
lives. While not always conclusive, they are very attractive mixtures
of dance and acting. The most beautiful sequence came with an acrobatic
floor number, an intimate pas de deux of the unusual sort. It spoke of
trust and the loss of security.
While avoiding a clear story-line, Wechsler accomplishes with "The
Oklo Phenomenon" an entertaining, intelligent cross-over project
and, with a great company, earned an enthusiastic applause. A re-launch
of the piece is planned for next year. One should watch for it.
Nürnberger Nachrichten (original
auf deutsch /pdf)
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"Jenseits der Schatten", 2006
"At first, the choreography showed automated movement loops, but
towards the end, the only cave dweller who found his way to freedom danced
a marvelous Pas de deux of lyrical warmth and expressive acrobatics with
a white female creature made out of light (Frey Faust und Senem Gökce
Ogultekin)."
23.24.09.06, Rainer Nonnenmann, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger
"The director showed great care in the creation of the only speaking
roll in this Multi-media opera. Wolfgang Jaroschka was convincing as the
laid-back, smug, sophisticated and self-absorbed Plato."
22.9.06, Frieder Reininghaus, Süddeutsche Zeitung
"The expansive expressive potential of the interaction between the
real and virtual worlds is more effective than either the music or acting
could have been alone. There were some very beautiful effects... Despite
high expectations, the piece managed not to take itself too seriously,
breaking up the evening with irony... With a traditional classical-instrument
orchestra, a wonderful contrast between the virtual light/shadow worlds
was attained."
22.09.2006, Bernhard Hartmann, General-Anzeiger Cologne
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"Blinde Liebe", 2005
"Opera can be a wild multimedia experience, in your face, hurled
at you in every medium, in a way you won't encounter at our grand-opera
houses. ... a small visiting German company presented the stunning creation
"Blinde Liebe" (Blind Love), a melange of dance, film, video,
live music, fantasy projections, speech, song, and, oh, yes, reality,
composed by Erling Wold. With actresses hitting on audience members, ...
directors arguing with performers, all the lines are fascinatingly blurred---between
audience and performers, between reality and fantasy, between rehearsal
and show, between script and improv. The fourth wall was simply and decisively
demolished. The upshot was the most engrossing contemporary opera-dance-theater
I have encountered in ages...."
6.6.05, D. Rane Danubian, The Independent Observer of the San Francisco
Bay Area (full article /pdf)
"… the music wonderful, the orchestra superb, the mixing of
acoustic and electronic music/effects right on,… the multimedia
effects mesmerizing, and the whole concept truly intriguing....."
27.5.05, Mark Mardon, Bay Area Reporter
"Unbridled rage and ice cold logic... encircled by rigid legal poppycock.
Even their heated "fucking" outbursts do little to bring rhyme
or reason to what happened - to break the facade. This is Robert Wechsler's
proposition and, in an artistic frontal attack he commits to it every
means of sensual perception at his disposal. Multimedia as therapy...."
29.3.05, Abendzeitung Nürnberg (original
auf deutsch /pdf)
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"Epikalypsis - Palindrome Experiment Succeeds",
2003
"With an utterly convincing Idea turned into a well-rounded evening... Reality is fleeting. Dancer Helena Zwiauer in the pedestrian zone of the town, and appears to be entering the theater -- then the real show begins. This game with the live-doubling continues in a poetic and tempermentful choreography. She dances with herself, her image, and her shadow...
NN, 7.4.2000 erl (original auf deutsch /pdf)
"Dance of the Electron", Interview,
2003
"Wechsler belongs to an avantgarde made up of those finding new paths
for artistic expression and radically redefining dance. The few groups
belonging to this movement are distributed around the entire world: USA,
England, Japan and, yes, Nürnberg."
26.03.03, Harald Fette, Süddeutsche Zeitung (original
auf deutsch /pdf)
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"Seine hohle Form", 2002
"...the German-American group Palindrome was awarded the prize for
best interactive art work. ... they performed unbelievable virtuosos of
electronic sound in which spatial data fields served as an invisible instrument."
12.02.02, Sebastian Preuss, Berliner Zeitung
"Palindrome's ..seine hohle Form... is a performance in which expert
interactants, through dance, produce their own soundtrack in real-time.
We noted the highly developed cybernetic relationship which the piee presents:
through an expecially tight connetion between the dancer's body and the
computer technology (in partrs of the performance), an intense aesthetic
experience is created for the viewer.
16.10.01, Prize Jury review for the categories "Image, Interaction
and Software Art" Transmediale" Berlin 2001
"Your piece was worth the price of admission alone!... I've seen
a lot of interactive dance pieces in my time, and yours was the first
one I've seen that really worked!"
03.01.01, Max Mathews (at SEAMUS 2001)
"man, that was some bad-ass shit"
03.01.01, (overheard in lobby at SEAMUS conference)
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"Ludwig Forum Aachen "Lob der Anwesenheit",
2001
"The space becomes the instrument, the dance the game, the choreography
a page from the score.... No front row seat, no camera zoom could bring
the viewer closer to the intimacy of the touch of two human beings as
the artifice [used by the performers]: the moment is converted to sound.
... Sensual bodies executing a strange senseless synchronized gesture,
dislocated as though directed by out of control nerve fibers. The opposite
is the case: Here the bodies themselves are nerve fibers. They fill the
space with dance of utmost precision thereby creating an artistic whole."
21.09.01, Peter Motz, Abend Zeitung, Aachen (original
auf deutsch /pdf)
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"Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle",
2001
In the nearly sold-out theater, Robert Wechsler and his internationally
sought after company, Palindrome, brought together an exciting and fully
poetic Choreography... The dancers were truly excellent...
28.1.01, RU Nnürnberger Nachrichten (original
auf deutsch /pdf)
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"A real surprise in the performance was what Robert Wechsler did
with 10 volunteers during the intermission. A special dynamic was achieved
as choreographed movements triggered various samples, and played-out together
in a game of chance."
16.11.99, Isolde Matkey, Sächsiche Zeitung
"Five perfect dancers steered the programming. At once emotional
and fascinating..."
11.06.99, Dieter Stoll, Abendzeitung Nürnberg
"Rectangles of light are the tableau for five dancers who are set
into staccato motion by digitized sentences. Rich in variation, the action
of the dancers was a gleaming example of unpretentious body-language.
The computer is no longer an interactive play-thing, it provides the groove
for a perfectly accented dance-experience: compact and brilliantly danced."
11.07.99, Uwe Studtrucker, Nürnberger Nachrichten
"It would not be right to say that Palindrome gets lost in the technology.
On the contrary, they use it to ilucidate the magical character of the
dancing. Helena Zwiauer dances in wonderful harmony. It is a true pleasure
to watch her flowing movements, seemingly effortless, whether in the air,
or on the floor."
31.05.99, Béatrice Schmidt, Bieler Zeitung
"In contrast to other computer freaks choreographers, dancers and
performers working with cyborgs, Robert Wechsler is not only a clever
researcher, he is also a very good guide. In the just under 2-hour performance,
Press ESCAPE! brought us a highly impressive work of body and computer,
in word, image and movement."
15.06.98, Süddeutsche Zeitung
this can't be translated:
Fehler im System - ...Es geht um Digitalisierung von Bewegung: Dance for
Windows. Die Elektronik kreißt - und gebiert eine ästhetische
Null-Lösung... The Medium is the Massage (sic). Sinnfrage - negativ.
Die Technik wird zum Selbstzweck. Und wenn sie kollabiert, dann ist gleich
alles over and closed."
10.06.96, Nürnberger Nachrichten 6-10-96
"Press ESCAPE speaks to the heart of the computer revolution...
praise Palindrome for their bravado! These are risk-takers -- a fresh
and well-calculated ensemble. Palindrome showed not only some finely crafted
and imaginative works, but pointed out new directions in the evolution
of interactive-collaborative art..."
Computer Music Journal 12-95
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AUF DEUTSCH
"Wirklich Überraschendes eröffnete sich bei der Performance,
die Robert Wechsler mit zehn Freiwilligen in der Pause erarbeitete. Positioniert
an bestimmten Punkten der Bühne, lösten ihre vorher abgesprochenen
Bewegungen verschiedene Samples aus, die im Zusammenspiel mit dem zufälligen
szenischen Spiel eine eigene Dynamik hervorbrachten."
16.11.99, Isolde Matkey, Sächsiche Zeitung
"Fünf perfekte Tänzerinnen im Sog der Programmierung.
Faszinierend - und doch traurig zugleich." Dieter Stoll,
6.11.99, Abendzeitung Nürnberg
"Rechtecke aus Licht sind das Tableau für fünf Frauen,
die sich in stakkatohaften Bewegungen zu digitalisierten Sätzen in
Bewegung bringen, mit variantenreichen Aktionen und einer unprätentiösen
Körper-sprache glänzen... Der Computer ist nicht mehr interaktive
Spieldose, er besorgt nur den Groove für ein perfekt akzentuiertes
Tanzerlebnis: Kompakt und brillant getanzt."
7.11.99, Uwe Studtrucker, Nürnberger Nachrichten
"...es wäre nicht richtig zu sagen, dass sich Palindrome in
der Technik erschöpft. Im Gegenteil. Sie bedient sich Ihrer, um den
magischen Charakter des Tanzes erst deutlich zu machen. Helena Zwiauer
ist so wunderbar harmonisch, fein und es ist eine wahre Freude ihren fliessenden
Bewegungen zuzuschauen, die sie wie scheinbar ohne ihr zutun in die Luft
oder am Boden zeichnet."
31.5.1999, Bieler Tagblatt
"Im Unterschied zu anderen Computer-freaks unter Choreographen,
Tänzern und Performern, die mit Cyborgs arbeiten,... ist Robert Wechsler
nicht nur ein gewitzter Forscher, sondern auch ein sehr guter Didaktiker.
In seiner knapp zweistündigen Performance "Press Escape! ...
vermittelt er höchst eindruckster in wort, Bild und Bewegung.."
15.6.98, Süddeutsche Zeitung
"Rasant, witzig, gekonnt: Mit dieser Mischung riss die Choreographie
von Robert Wechsler das Publikum hin...."
3-3-97, Nürnberger Nachrichten
"Ein Orchesterkonzert, von den Tänzern auf imaginären
Instrumenten gespielt, ... optisch und akustisch gleichzeitig faszinierend...
Dabei beherrschen die vier Palindrome-Darsteller eine hervorragende."
NN 4-25-97
"Bei Palindrome beherrschst nicht der Computer die Kunst, die Tänzer
bedienen sich seiner Möglichkeiten.
Die Technik kompensiert hier kein mangelndes Können, sondern eröffnet
dem Tanz völlig neue
Perspektiven...."
Bay.Rundfunk Ferseh, 8.8.96
"Der Tanz macht die Musik: Das ist schon revolutionär, was
Palindrome auf die Bühne bringt.... Spannend wird es, sobald der
Tanz den Ton angibt: Etwa, wenn sich der schneller werdende Herzschlag
in den Rhythmus mischt. Oder wenn die Musik lauter wird, je näher
sich Wechsler und Zwiauer in dem wunderschönen Pas de deux "Stolen
with Respect" kommen..."
Nürnberg Abendzeitung 8-4-96
"The company Palindrome surprised us with a funny and intelligent
experiment. Dancing with Concept... Absolutely astounding how the artistic
director resolves the apparent contradictions of the analytical and intuitive
mind, between abstract number-material and passionate feelings..."
Zürcher Oberländer 5-10-94
Palindrome segelt hart am brutalen Zeitgeist, verbeißt sich nicht
in träge Tanzphilosophie. Einfach und rational sind die Mittel...
BerlinerMorgenpost
Das alles geschieht so geschmeidig wie präzise, so witzig in seiner
Logik wie versonnen in seiner Poesie...
NürnbergerNachrichten
Gar kein Zweifel, daß Robert Wechsler mit seiner Arbeit einen Sonderplatz
in der regionalen Tanzszene einnimmt. Seine spielerisch sportiven Kleinchoreographen
entwickeln, jenseits der Trampelpfade einer klassisch erstarrten Ballettkunst
und trotzdem im Regelwerk der (jüngeren) Bewegungs-Art im Cunningham-Inspirationsstil,
immer einen eigendynamischen Anspruch, bei dem der relativierende Humor
dominanter bleibt als der Drang zur großen Pose.
Abendzeitung Nürnberg