In C

​Sasha Waltz & Guests

Terry Riley​

In 2021, the dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests began a colorful and innovative artistic process that results in the continuous production of new formats. Terry Riley’s »In C« (1964) forms the musical foundation of this, an open composition that was revolutionary at the time and is generally considered the first piece of minimalist music. Sasha Waltz and 10 dancers developed choreographic material that follows a similarly variable structure.

The choreography is a playful system of 53 choreographic figures for a structured improvisation with rules and laws. Within this set of rules, the individual performer is given creative freedom, but this must always be in relation to the group – very similar to our democratic society, in which the limits of personal freedom end where the group is not violated. The roles of leadership and followers are not fixed, each performer can switch roles at any time. »In C« is a democratic piece about being part of a group as an individual, not an individual in the group.

Since the premiere on a live stream from the Radialsystem, Sasha Waltz’s choreography has been received with great enthusiasm by a live audience internationally. At the same time, it was passed on to a steadily growing international dance community: the choreographic material was recorded in video tutorials that can be made digitally accessible. You can find more information about this here.