Dance | Exhibitions | Film | Opera | Theatre


Dance

"Don Quixote". Ballet by Marius Petipas, choreographed by Heinz Spoerli. At the Opernhaus Zurich.


Exhibitions

The town of Guben in Brandenburg has installed the "Plastinarium", a permanent exhibition of the corpses of "the plastinator" Gunther von Hagens.

"Hans Hacke wirklich". Works, 1959 - 2006. At the Akademie der Künste in Berlin until January 14, and at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg until February 5, 2007.

"Hermann Nitsch. Orgies Mysteries Theatre. Retrospective". At Berlin's Martin Gropius Bau until January 22, 2007.

"Into Me / Out Of Me," curated by Klaus Biesenbach at the Kunst-Werke in Berlin, focussing on the use of the body such artists as Jonathan Meese and Christoph Schlingensief. Until February 28, 2007.

"Neo Rauch: New Roles" a major retrospective at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg until March, 2007

"Anonymous". At the exhibition in the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt until January 14, 2007. Labels identifying works and artists have been completely dispensed with.

"Picasso and the Theatre". At the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, until January 21, 2007.

The Bode Museum has reopened its doors in Berlin. The museum houses the sculptural treasures of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, writes that here Europe can behold its aesthetic, religious, intellectual and political history for the first time in three-dimensional form.

"Tödliche Medizin: Rassenwahn im Nationalsozialismus" (deadly medicine: race delusions under National Socialism). A guest exhibition by the Washington Holocaust Memorial Museum at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum in Dresden, until June 24, 2007.

"The Blue Rider in the 21st Century". Juxtaposing works by Blue Rider artists Franz Marc, August Macke, Wassily Kandinsky and Alexei Jawlensky with contemporary artists Franz Ackermann, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson and Katharina Grosse. At the Lenbachhaus in Munich.

"Heimat und Exil" (Home and exile) looks at the mass emigration of Jews from Germany and their assimilation into neighbouring countries. At the Jewish Museum in Berlin until April 9, 2007. It then travels to Bonn and Leipzig.

Plus Rebecca Horn. Her first major retrospective (1964 to 2006) since 1994 with installations, drawings, sculptures and films. Until January 15, 2007.

"I like America." Paintings, film and photographs investigate the German love for the Wild West at the Frankfurter Kunsthalle, until January 7, 2007.

"From Monet to Mondrian. Modern Masterpieces from Dresden's Private Collections in the first half of the 20th century". At the Palais Brühlsche Terrasse in Dresden until January 14, 2007.

"The Guggenheim Collection". At the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn, until January 7, 2007.

The first large solo exhibition of The Atlas Group features an archive of found and produced photographic, audiovisual, and written documents of everyday life in Lebanon. Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin until January 7.

A retrospective of Cuban-American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres on the 10th anniversary of his death. Aesthetically polished and socially provocative works using minimalist strategies combined with personal, social and political meaning. Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin until January 9.

"Andreas Slominski. The Roter Sand Lighthouse and a Stroke of Luck". Andreas Slominski has made an extraordinary contribution to contemporary art, and the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt is staging the largest museum exhibition of his works to date. Until January 28, 2007.

"Picasso – Painting against time". With almost 200 pieces from some 60 lenders, including paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures, document Picasso's specific working processes and the uniqueness of the style in his late art. At the Albertina in Vienna, until January 7, 2007.

"Reiner Leist: Window". For more than ten years, Reiner Leist has photographed New York from an office window on 8th Avenue with a 19th century plate camera. At the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin, until January 7, 2007.

"Caravaggio". At the museum kunst palast in Düsseldorf, until January 7, 2007.

"The Green Vault".The Saxon royal treasures have moved back to their original home in Dresden's Royal Palace. Permanent exhibition.

The German Historical Museum has opened its new permanent exhibit in Berlin.

"Mythos Troja." At the Antikensammlung, Munich, until May 31, 2007.


Film"Lights in the Dusk" (Laitakaupungin Valot). Finland/Germany/France / 2006. Aki Kaurismäki's new drama about a night watchman who is an outcast among outcasts. When a Russian mobster notices him, his fate is sealed.

"The Ugly Duckling and Me". Denmark / 2005. Animated comedy, directed by Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiileric. Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling" tale. Through early January.

"Vitus". Switzerland / 2006. Fredi M. Murer's drama
about a super-talented child prodigy whose parents have big plans for him... until Vitus takes control of his own life. Through early January.

"Flicka". Great Britain / 2006. Drama about a girl and her horse, by Michael Mayer, based on the famous book, "My Friend Flicka," by Mary O'Hara. Through early January.

"Natale a New York". Italy / 2006. Comedy by director Neri Parenti. A young Italian surgeon is forced to spend a crazy four days in the bewitching "Big Apple" of Christmastime.

"Congo River". Belgium / France, 2006. Documentary by Thierry Michel. A fascinating filmic voyage from the mouth of the Congo River to its source.

"The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez". Germany, 2006. Documentary by Heidi Specogna. José Antonio Gutierrez was the first US soldier to die in Irak. the film tells the moving story of the Green Card soldier, from his early days as a street urchin in Guatemala to his trip northward and his death as an American hero.

"Der Lebensversicherer" (the insurance salesman). Germany, 2006. Road movie by Bülent Akinci. Burkhard Wagner races to and fro on the autobahn, trying to sell enough life insurance policies to ensure his family a comfortable life. Until he meets Caroline serving in a roadside cafe, that is.

"The Hermitage Dwellers". The Netherlands, 2003. Documentary by Aliona van der Horst. The prize winning film shows the attendants, technicians and curators of St. Petersburg's Hermitage, who have come to be at home in the former palace of Catherine the Great.

"Niceland". Denmark / Iceland / UK / Germany, 2004. Drama by Fridrik Thor Fridriksson. Jed and Chloe are in their early 20s, in love and - mentally disabled.

"Tailor Made Dreams". Documentary by Marco Wilms. A dream comes true for the Indian tailor Issar (66) when Wilms sends him on a trip to visit his long-time customers in Europe.

"The Saddest Music in the World". Canada, 2003. Drama by Guy Maddin. Isabella Rossellini plays Lady Helen Port-Huntley, the brewery queen from Winnipeg. Lady Helen lost her legs in a horrible accident, and now one of her admirers has given her the replacements. She invites the world to a huge melancholy competition in this Canadian backwater. All nations are there to sing the most woeful song.

"Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt" (Deadly Nightshade). Germany, 2006. 45 minute, black and white, silent directing debut by actress Franka Potente. Summer 1918...

"Ernst Fuchs - Straßensänger und Kaiser wollt' ich werden" (Ernst Fuchs - emperor and street singer is what I wanted to be). Germany, 2005. Documentary by Jürgen Haase. Ernst Fuchs is the universal artistic genius of the 20th and 21st centuries. Painter, sculptor, architect, composer, set designer, author and philosopher all rolled into one.

"Lenz". Switzerland / Germany, 2006. Literary drama by Thomas Imbach. The filmmaker Lenz leaves Berlin to research Georg Büchner's story "Lenz" in the Vosges in France, where things take an unexpected turn.

"Eden". Germany / Switzerland, 2006. Culinary romance by Michael Hofmann. Eden, a married woman, succumbs to the "cucina erotica" of the eccentric master chef Gregor.

"Goya's Ghosts". (Spain / USA / France, 2006). Drama by Milos Forman. Spain, 1792. Ines, the young muse of the famous court painter Francisco de Goya, is brought in front of the Inquisition and accused of hereticism.

"Malerei heute" (painting today). Germany, 2005. Documentary by Stefan Hayn. In summer 1998, Stefan Hayn started painting water colours of advertising billboards in Berlin. Each painting was conceived as one "take" in a documentary film protocolling the changes in the city.

"Pingpong". Germany, 2006. Drama by Matthias Luthardt. 16-year-old Paul drops in on his relatives unanounced. His father died recently, and he erupts into the seemingly happy microcosm in search of a secure world.

"Vom Schaukeln der Dinge" (How things swing). Germany, 2005. Documentary by Beatrix Schwehm. Actor, cabarettist and author Rudolf Hähn is at the highpoint of his career, before he is diagnosed with Morbus Parkinson. Now he is in for encounters of an entirely different kind.

"Der letzte Zug" (The Last Train). Germany / Czech Republic, 2006. Holocaust drama by Joseph Vilsmaier. 1943. Over 70,000 Jews have already been deported from Berlin. In April, a train with 688 Jews rolls from platform 17 in Grunewald station towards Auschwitz. The journey deathwards lasts six days.

"Pact of Silence - The Second Life of Erich Priebke". Germany / Argentina, 2006. Documentary by Carlos Echeverria. In the middle of the 20th century, SS Captain Erich Priebke went underground in the small Argentinian town of Bariloche. Among his crimes was the execution of 335 civilians in Fosse Ardeatine in Italy on March 24, 1944. 50 years later his true identity was discovered.

"Warchild". Germany, 2005. Drama by Christian Wagner. Senda, a young mother, loses her child in the turmoil of war. But she refuses to shake her belief that Aida is still alive. Many years later she is proved right: her daughter is living with adoptive parents in Germany. Senda is determined to find her child.

"Offset". Germany, 2006. Love story by Didi Danquart. Bucharest, 2005. The interpreter Brindusa, who works as secretary to the printer Iorga, meets the young German engineer Stefan...

"Play your own thing - The Story of Jazz in Europe". Germany, 2006. Documentary by Julian Benedikt.

"Warum halb vier?" (Why 3:30?). Germany, 2006. Documentary by Lars Pape. Saturday at 3.30 pm. A stadium, and millions of supporters. Why is football more than just a game for so many people?

"Wir leben im 21. Jahrhundert" (We're living in the 21st century). Germany, 2004. Coming of age drama by Claudia Indenhock. Pascal, Jasmin and Patrick live in Cologne. They're 20 and they've got a problem.


Opera

At the last minute, Berlin has delivered a major contribution to Mozart year with Hans Neuenfels's "Magic Flute" at the Komische Oper. The main props are a giant wooden penis and a silvery scrotal sack.

"Simon Boccanegra", by Giuseppe Verdi, directed by Lorenzo Fioroni. The protagonists intone a beguiling lament while zapping through the TV and watching "Tom and Jerry." Next performances in March 2007. At the Deutsche Oper in Berlin.

"I Hate Mozart" by Gilles Deleuze fan Bernhard Lang. At the Theater and der Wien in Vienna.


Theatre

"Das Produkt" (The Product) by Mark Ravenhill, author of the hit production "Shoppen und Ficken" (Shopping and Fucking). Directed by Thomas Ostermeier at the Schaubühne in Berlin.

"Medea" by Euripides. Staged by Barbara Frey and featuring the new goddess Nina Hoss, at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.

"Three Sisters" by Anton Chekhov, directed by Falk Richter. At the Schaubühne in Berlin.

"Ulrike Maria Stuart" by Austrian Nobel Prize winning author Elfriede Jelinek. At the Thalia Theater in Hamburg.

"Karl Marx' Capital, First Volume". Documentary theatre by the Rimini Protokoll theatre group at the Schauspielhaus in Dusseldorf.

"Liebe ist nur eine Möglichkeit" (love is just one possibility) by Christoph Nußbaumeder, directed by Thomas Ostermeier at the Schaubühne in Berlin.