Pelerinages Kunstfest Weimar, through 12 September 2010
The Weimar Pèlerinages Festival headed by Nike Wagner, the great-granddaughter of Richard Wagner, attracts international attention first of all as a musical event. However, alongside the main musical programme, which does indeed play the central role here, a number of exhibitions, dance performances, literary nights, debates and film screenings take place, bringing together classical and contemporary art under the same roof.
The uniqueness of the festival lies in its diversity and multifariousness: that is its way of setting itself apart from other European arts festivals. Weimar is probably associated by many with Goethe and Schiller, and yet, according to Pèlerinages, the special hero of the city is Franz Liszt. The festival has borrowed its name from the composer's Années de Pèlerinage (or Years of Pilgrimage) piano suites. And that's exactly what the Weimar Festival is inviting everyone to do: to embark on a pilgrimage to a celebration of arts.
This year's festival is a tribute to a great American choreographer - the late Merce Cunningham who passed away last summer. Cunningham, one of the most radical dance artists ever, was one of those choreographers who didn't stop at story-telling and psychological studies of human relationships, focusing on dance and its potential instead. Working closely with a number of influential contemporaries representing other arts, the likes of the American composer John Cage, artists Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Cunningham staged many productions in which the choreographer insisted on the autonomy of dance, music and fine arts within a single work of art. Dance, as well as music and art, were born and developed in these pieces independently, merging together through time and space, instead of the traditional ways. Cunningham developed his own language of movement, combining the leg and foot technique of classical ballet with new possibilities offered by the modern ways of expression for the upper part of the body. The choreographer was intrigued by the potential of interplay between dance and film or video: with great enthusiasm, Cunningham explored the ways of opening the new technologies for dance. The programme of the Weimar Festival features the two last pieces by Merce Cunningham: Nearly 90 and Event.
A wonderful night is guaranteed should you choose to see Alleinunterhalter, a show by the Swiss musician Jürg Kienberger and the German pianist Clemens Sienknecht, two of the brilliant Swiss director Christoph Marthaler's 'theatre family', that, according to the authors, is walking the line between high art and entertainment. Another event definitely worth looking out for is an encounter with the unique German actress Angela Winkler who is appearing in a literary night featuring music by Schumann, List and Kurt Weill.
Programme: http://pelerinages.de
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