The Voice

The voice is a remarkable site: one that is directly connected to a person’s body and identity – it is unique, unmistakable and an instrument of self-assertion. However, a voice can also have an irritating effect and remind us of our own vulnerability. In their striking solo work “The Voice”, choreographer Rita Mazza, whose first language is Italian Sign Language, embarks in a radically intimate and vulnerable way on a search for their own voice from a deaf perspective. Mazza seizes their voice and expresses it out loud: in sound, movement, gestures, light and rhythm, blurring the boundaries between visibility and audibility, intimacy and openness in the process. “The Voice” raises questions about identity, sexuality, control and shame – as well as about how much the way we sound is conditioned and judged by society. The performance is aimed at the audience on a variety of levels and works with German Sign Language, surtitles and live audio description. A profound physical experience that challenges existing norms – and invites us to perceive our own inner voice in a new way.

Infos

Duration: approx. 60 minutes
Language: German sign language with German and English surtitles
Wed 5 Nov Relaxed performance / from 7 pm – end DGS to Go / 07:20 pm Pre Sho Access in the hall / 7.55 pm early boarding / meet the artist afterwards
Thu 6 Nov Relaxed performance / from 7 p.m. – end DGS to Go / 07:20 pm Pre Sho Access in the hall / 7.55 p.m. early boarding
Tip: Workshop with Rita Mazza on 7 November
On 6 November, after the performance, the action continues in Studio 1 with ‘4.0 – Inclusive Club Night. An audiovisual installation for deaf and hearing people’.

Accessibility

Accessibility of Event

Accessibility of Location

Access for Deaf Audiences

The performance isn’t fully Deaf friendly because the performer is producing sounds that are transmitted through a microphone. There will be written sound descriptions as subtitles (English & German) as well as a signed version of those in German Sign Language. The piece is about sounds, a topic that might address hearing people more than Deaf people. Sounds are described in written and signed form, but the additional layer that is accessible for the hearing audience won’t be perceived by the Deaf audience. The performer themself is Deaf, too. They explore human body sounds which everyone is able to produce. So while the piece isn’t fully Deaf friendly, the Deaf audience and the performer are on the same page.

Relaxed performances and early boarding

Relaxed performances are aimed at anyone who feels more comfortable in a relaxed atmosphere that is easy on the senses. Audience members are free to come and go during the show. Silence is not mandatory. Early boarding takes place 5 minutes before the start of the performance.

Audio description and tactile tour

Cancelled

Audio description and tactile guidance were originally planned for the performance. Unfortunately, these services have had to be canceled due to illness.

Sponsors and Supporters

By & with: Rita Mazza
Light design: Raquel Rosildete
Set design & video: Camille Lacadee
Dramaturgy & artistic collaboration accessibility: Noa Winter, Sophie Guisset
Costume design & video animation: Evan Loxton
Advice on movement quality & choreography: Gabriel Galindez Cruz
Collaboration dance & choreography: Maria Giulia Serantoni
DGS performer: Aurelia Schäfer
Audio description & tactile tour: Ari Althaus, Johanna Krins, Gina Jeske
Photography: Mayra Wallraff Production
Management & care: Tiphaine Carrère, Jette Büchsenschütz
Production preliminary work: Agnes Kern DGS/English/German
Interpretation for internal team work: Stella Papantonatos, Alma Arnoul, Viviane Grünberger
Pre show access & accessibility collaboration: analu
Outside eye: Mathias Schaefer
Light assistant: Alexandra Úhlarová

A production by Rita Mazza in co-production with Tanz im August / HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Kampnagel. Funded by Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. In cooperation with Sophiensæle.

Tanzfestival Rhein-Main, a project of Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and Hessisches Staatsballett, is made possible by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and is funded by the Department of Culture and Science of the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture, Aventis Foundation and Dr. Marschner Foundation. Sponsered by Energieversorgung Offenbach AG (EVO).

Content and Sensory notes

Content notes:

Speech therapy for Deaf people
Partial nudity

Sensory triggers:

The show works with different light patterns, intensities and rhythms, without abrupt changes. The lighting choreography includes: darker and brighter scenes, intense colors, partial and total fadeouts, several soft projections onto fixed and moving objects, slowly pulsating lights and one reflective surface, pointing light directly at the audience.
The show is very quiet, no music or spoken language will be used throughout the performance. The audio landscape contains different elements, varying in intensity, pitch, quality and rhythm. These include: repetitive bubbling and breathing sounds, high pitch kissing sounds and one very loud abrupt funny sound. There will also be potential crackling sounds and a continuous background noise from the ventilation system.
In this show there’s also the use of a smoke machine.

3 Fragen an Rita Mazza

WAS HAT DICH AN DER ARBEIT ZU DEINEM STÜCK „THE VOICE“ BEWEGT?

Ich wollte mich einem vergessenen/ verborgenen Teil meines Körpers widmen – jenem Teil, der in der hörenden Welt vorherrschend ist. Letztendlich war es befreiend, meinen Körper mit meiner Stimme zu verbinden – als natürliche und menschliche Ausdrucksform, die jenseits von Sprache, Regeln und Urteilen existieren kann.

WELCHE ROLLE SPIELT DAS DIESJÄHRIGE FESTIVALMOTTO „NOW OR NEVER“ FÜR DICH UND DEINE KÜNSTLERISCHE ARBEIT?

„Now or Never“ bedeutet für mich, Gebärdensprache und Barrierefreiheit im Sinne der „Aesthetics of Access“ nicht als optional, sondern als wesentlichen und klugen Bestandteil der Kunst zu begreifen.

WELCHE FRAGE WÜRDEST DU EINEM ZUSCHAUER/ EINER ZUSCHAUERIN DEINES STÜCKES GERNE STELLEN?

Wenn es dich berührt hat – was hat dich berührt?

Biografie

Rita Mazza (they/she) ist eine in Berlin lebende Performancekünstler*in, und Gebärden-sprach-Choreograf*in, die sich auf visuelle Gebärdenperformances spezialisiert hat. Geboren in Turin, Italien, studierte Mazza an der Universität für Musik, darstellende Kunst, Film und Neue Medien. Rita Mazza spielte die Hauptrolle in dem preisgekrönten Theaterstück Children of a Lesser God. Im Jahr 2020 wurde Rita Artist-in-Residence im Projekt Making a Difference, wo Rita die Verbindung von Gebärdensprache und Tanz erforschte – ein Prozess, der in der Soloperformance Dandelion II (2021) mündete.

Zu ihren jüngsten bemerkenswerten Arbeiten gehören: Space 1880 (2021), Matters of Rhythm (2023), eingeladen zur TANZPLATTFORM DEUTSCHLAND 2024 und The Voice (2024). Darüber hinaus arbeitet Mazza auch als Kurator*in und Berater*in im Bereich Gebärdensprachkunst und Barrierefreiheit in den Künsten. Seit 2010 kreiert und tourt Rita internationale Tanz- und Theaterarbeiten mit Kompanien wie TRASH (NL), Abbattoir Ferme (BE), Veronika Riz (IT), Emma Martin /United Fall (IE).