Body that Stands
current research page
Body that Stands is the current work in progress by Goshen, which will premiere in Stuttgart, March 2025. A 60-minute dance performance for three dancers, exploring the multifaceted notion of resistance. In a world where opposition signifies both a necessity for survival and a potential catalyst for violence, this piece deconstructs the term to reveal its nuances. Through movement, spoken text, and minimalist scenography, Body that Stands examines how acts of defiance shape our physical, emotional, and societal landscapes.
Drawing from the political and cultural tensions rooted in her Israeli-German identity, Goshen delves into resistance not just as a reaction, but as an inherent force within life itself. From pushing against gravity to confronting the psychological and political dimensions of defiance, the work investigates where acts of strength empower and where they blur the fine line into aggression.
Wrestling, leaning, carrying, holding, dropping, screaming, protesting—throughout the piece, the dancers embody the intersections between the power to oppose, the need for control, vulnerability, and desires, constantly suggesting an intense interplay of power and powerlessness. Parallel to the moving human body, construction and deconstruction unfold on stage through evolving scenography. As the performers shape and are shaped by their environment, the performance highlights the duality of opposition as both formative and destructive, inviting the audience to reflect on its presence in their own lives.
Body that Stands observes opposition to uncover the complexities of our existence and the structures that sustain it.
The piece will premiere at Theater Rampe Stuttgart in March 2025. Further information will follow soon.
Concept, choreography & artistic direction: Smadar Goshen
Dance & Performance: Bar Gonen, Cordelia Eleonore Lange, Zuki Ringart
Dramaturgy: Maya Weinberg
Music: Leonard Küßner
Costume & stage design: Lilo Ming
Production management: Lisa Ticar, Christine Koschel,
Production assistance: Hannah Störzer
Communication: Angela Milosevic
Body that Stands is a co-production with Theater Rampe, funded by the conceptual funding of the Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e.V. with funds from the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg, by the state capital Stuttgart, Freie Tanz- und Theaterszene Stuttgart gUG, the Péter Horváth Foundation and the LBBW Foundation. Sponsored by Ritter Sport and supported by the Produktionszentrum Tanz und Performance Stuttgart. Made possible by the residency programme of the Réseau GRAND LUXE network and the special support of the dance department of Theater Freiburg. As part of the Réseau GRAND LUXE network, also supported by the Trois C-L Center for Creation and Choreography in Luxembourg and POLE SUD – CDCN national center for choreographic development in Strasbourg.
Pictures captured by Zoia Domaskina.