Doris Uhlich: Every Body Electric

“A dancer without legs shows us what dance really needs, is and can be.” — Steffen Georgi, Leipziger Volkszeitung, on performer Adil Embaby in Every Body Electric

“What is being shown is at the same time relentless, inspiring and full of hope” — Julya Rabinowich, Der Standard

“The different performers are working towards opening up their physical potentials. As the process develops, I realise more and more that even very small movements can be vehement. Normative perceptions and conceptions of energy and power are destabilised, shaken up.” — Doris Uhlich

Doris Uhlich creates individual and communal “forms of energy dance” in this ensemble piece for people with physical impairments. Every body has specific abilities to articulate its dynamism and its carnal pleasure. The movements themselves allow the body to charge itself up, acting as a kind of fuel produced naturally in the body. Every Body Electric is a radical invitation to explore potentials through the medium of dance, to make them visible and delve deep into an archaeology of energy. What else becomes possible if machines – such as wheelchairs, prostheses, crutches – are not perceived as obstacles but as extensions of the body and are also staged as such? Personal rhythms, dynamics, beats and physical characteristics result in very individual dance styles. Ultimately, the topical relevance of Every Body Electric but also its poetry, oscillating between gentle and forceful, lie in the way it alters both the self-awareness and the perception of these bodies.