From what point on is a movement really mine and when does this movement become art?

The law only protects movement phrases, but what about the context or if no one is dancing?

What could be the smallest building block of a movement phrase?

Is a single movement comparable to a single note?

Is a true copy at all possible in dance?

How does one and the same movement differ if performed by different dancers?

And what does music have that we don’t have?

The piece is in English and German.

“In terms of dance copyright this almost academic deconstructivist exposure of individual movements can almost be seen and understood as a warning premonition that dance may in the future be asked to pay for every step it makes or alternatively to choreograph with as lucrative movements as possible in mind. This is where Christoph Winkler’s study of the material takes on a politically explosive dimension and goes beyond merely appealing for the right to individual inspiration. The show is a well-made and entertaining argument for the right of artists to search for inspiration wherever they wish.” 

(nachtausgabe.de)

Source : Christoph Winkler 

More information : www.christoph-winkler.com/

Christoph Winkler is one of the most versatile choreographers in  Germany. His work covers a wide range of formats and deals with topics  both of a very personal nature as well as highly political contributions  to current social discourse. 

Born in Torgau in the former GDR, he was a multiple Spartakiad winner  in the disciplines weightlifting and judo as a teenager. He then  studied martial arts and breakdance, before being accepted at the  National Ballet School in Berlin. After the fall of the wall, he danced  in video productions for MTV and worked as a bodyguard and construction  worker. In the early 1990’s, he performed in underground techno clubs.  Then he studied choreography for four years at the prestigious School  for Drama “Ernst Busch“ and founded Klangkrieg Productions, a platform  for experimental music. Under this label, he produce work by numerous  acclaimed musicians such as the Venetian Snares or Current Value. At the  same time, he also curated the festival AvantPop and organized parties  and concerts e.g. for the Fuckparade. 

After graduating from the Ernst Busch in 1998, he consciously chose  to continue working as an independent choreographer in Berlin. Right  from the start, he received much critical acclaim and numerous  invitations to festivals for his innovative dance style and minimalist,  rigorously composed, discursive dance dramas. 

In 2007, he founded the agency BERLIN GOGOS with "ehrliche arbeit –  freelance office for culture” as a way to commercially market  contemporary dance and address the economic situation of contemporary  dancers today. 

His works consistently deal with topics that reference issues  currently discussed in society at large, but that also directly pertain  to and affect the art form of dance. 

Recent works are: “Dance! Copy! Right?” (2012) about copyright in  art, especially in dance, “RechtsRadikal” about neo-Nazi women and “The  True Face – Dance Is Not Enough”, an entertaining overview of protest  art forms, both 2013. The solo “Baader – A Choreography of  Radicalisation” was invited to the German Dance Platform in 2012 and  dancer Martin Hansen was named Dance of the Year by the German leading  dance journal “tanz” that same year for his role in the piece. In 2014,  Winkler produced the solo “Hauptrolle” with Ahmed Soura from Burkina  Faso about the role of people of color on German stages, as well as the  dance heritage Tanzfonds Erbe piece “Abendliche Tänze” about the  subjective process of memory. That same year “The True Face” won the  FAUST Prize of the Deutsche Bühnenverein in the category “Best  Choreography”; it was the first time that this prize was awarded to a  piece produced entirely outside the German municipal and state theater  system. 

In spring 2015, he created the very intimate solo “La Fille- Portrait  of a Child” together with Emma Daniel, in which Christoph Winkler  reflected on his relationship with his own daughter, followed by “Golden  Stars on Blue” about the European comunity and its symbolism. In 2016,  he produced a series of shorter pieces  entitled „Studies on  Postcolonialism“ questions white dominance in an art form that prides  itself in its internationalism. That same year, he was once again  present at the FAUST awards, when Aloalii Tapu was named „Best Dancer“  for the solo „Urban Sou Café“ . In addition, he also initiated a  co-curated „The Witch Dance Project“ with Franziska Werner/Sophiensaele.  In 2017, within three months, he premiered five new pieces: an ensemble  project, two new solos, his first work for younger audiences, and his  first collaboration with the Cantus Domus Chor. For CTM 2018, he will  present the wide-ranging project „The Complete Expressionist“, a tribute  in music and dance to the multifaceted pioneer and pedagogue Ernest  Berk. 

In the last years he has performed with great success some musically inspired productions such as “Julius Eastman – Speak Boldly” or “We Are Going To Mars”. 

In 2020 Christoph Winkler was awarded one of the Tabori and in 2022 he received the Deutschen Tanzpreis.

In May 2022 he received the German Dance Award, the highest award for dance professionals in Germany.