Residency & Co-production Camilla Pölzer 2022/2023

Camilla steht in selbstbewusster Pose vor einem urbanen Gebäude mit Glasfassade. Ihr strahlend buntes Superheldinnen-Kostüm besteht aus einem türkis schimmernden Overall, neonpinken Handschuhen und Mütze und einer neongrünen Perücke. Ihr ebenfalls neongrünes Tüllcape weht hinter ihr im Wind.

Five questions for Camilla Pölzer (2023)

Interview with Camilla Pölzer from April 4, 2023. In German spoken language with German Sign Language interpretation and subtitles in German and English (selectable).

Click here to access the transcript of the interview in written English

Residency 2022

Research residency within the framework of Making a Difference and in collaboration with TanzZeit e.V./Tanzkomplizen between June and December 2022.

Whether in mythological sagas or in Marvel’s film universe, heroes are usually shown as brave men who hear an inner call and follow it. But what about all the brave heroines? How are they portrayed? Who is still a hero, a heroine, these days? And what if the heroine has a disability? Is she glorified as a heroine just because of her disability?

Based on these questions, Camilla Pölzer explores heroes, heroines with disabilities, and the dramaturgy of the hero’s journey to pursue the research question of what being a heroine means to her, as a woman with a disability. For her research, she invited mentors Paulina Jürges, Carolin Hartmann and Angela Alves. They shared their working methods, translated the dramaturgy of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey into movement and practised falling and getting up again.

Based on her artistic research during the residency, Camilla creates her first production as artistic director: I NEED A HERO.

Co-production 2023: I NEED A HERO

Premiere on February 22, 2023

In her first dance piece for young audiences, Camilla Pölzer undertakes her own personal heroine’s journey. With humorous exaggeration, joy of movement and a flowing cape, she and her performance partner Camilla Przystawski explore what it means for her as a woman with a disability to be a heroine and to face societal expectations.

She fights her way through the canon of virtues of true heroines and sets out to develop her superpower. She falls, gets back up, discovers unexpected abilities and begins to rethink the term “heroine”. Because maybe it is actually the conscious handling of our own fears and limits that really turns us into heroines.

The piece invites all people from the age of 9 with and without disabilities to discover what a hero can be and how much of a heroine they are!

Concept, choreography, performance: Camilla Pölzer Choreography, performance: Camilla Przystawski Co-choreography: Paulina Jürges, Johanna Jörns Music: Jana Sotzko Projection, Video: Declan Hurley Costume Design: Carlo Zeit Set Design: Pauline Heitmann Light Design: Martin Pilz Dramaturgical advice: Amelie Mallmann, Lisa Sziedat Production management: Agnieszka Habraschka, Lisa Sziedat Production assistance, Outside Eye: Lea Svenja Dietrich Tactile tour, audio description: Silja Korn, Emmilou Rößling Mediation: Amelie Mallmann, Kira Shmyreva Camera videodocumentation + trailer: Mayra Wallraff, Lucie Westbrock Postproduction videodocumentation + trailer: Nora Wetzel

A production by Camilla Pölzer, supported by the Making a Difference network in cooperation with TANZKOMPLIZEN. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe / Einstiegsförderung.

Camilla Pölzer, a white, disabled cis woman, stands in the middle of the stage and smiles to the audience: she is happy to be accepted into the heroine school! Camilla wears a silky, shiny turquoise jumpsuit, a blue-green bob-cut wig and white tennis socks and sneakers. Next to her is a scaffolding with two stretched cloths. Text is projected onto the cloths: Congratulations! You have been accepted to the world's best superhero school.
The two performers are in the middle of an intense stick fight. Camilla Przystawski is holding a stick with both hands in front of her body to defend herself. Her eyes are narrowed. She looks strained, but she is laughing. Camilla Pölzer is standing opposite her. She holds her stick vertically and presses it centrally against the other Camilla's, forcing her to her knees.
Camilla Przystawski sits on the stage floor with her legs stretched out in front of her and reaches out a hand towards the audience as if grasping for something. Her gaze is expectant, her eyebrows raised and her mouth slightly open. The cool light casts shadows on her body. She wears short blonde hair, a shiny silver T-shirt and white trousers. In the blurred background, Camilla Pölzer lies curled up on foam blocks.
Camilla Pölzer leans diagonally forward with an upright posture and outstretched arms. She seems to be floating, but she is being held by the other performer, Camilla Przystawski. They are standing opposite of each other. Camilla Przystawski is also bent forward and in a lunge. She supports Camilla Pölzer's chest with her head so that she does not fall. She has one arm around Camilla Pölzer like in an embrace.
A scaffold with several levels of poles, stretched white cloths and white platforms. On it are the two performers. They have built a kind of slide with several foam blocks. Camilla Przystawski firmly holds the slide while Camilla Pölzer slides down with her arms stretched upwards. They both laugh playfully.

Photos © Mayra Wallraff | www.mayrawallraff.de
Title photo © René Löffler