I really love turning into this sort of four-legged creature. All the little places that you can wedge the crutch really right into a corner or into a crack. In Scotland, we’d say 'nooks and crannies'. I get so lost in that sort of play…when the ground really becomes… my companion.”
Inspired, in part, by Gustav Mahler's ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’, led by her lived-experience as a disabled person, her memory of training as a classical singer and knowledge drawn from mountaineers and disabled peers, Claire Cunningham sets out to make a show where she traverses known and unfamiliar landscapes.
In this new solo Cunningham asks: what it is to wander? To seek to scale great heights? What can be learned from those of us who reach for the ground through crutches as 4-legged creatures, the choreography of crip* navigation and the maps we would re-draw? Of scale and time and energy? What it means to keep going and, importantly, the wisdom to know when to turn back.
Join this internationally-renowned Disabled leader and choreographer for an evening-length work, where she comes to understand her own journey as a love song - to the ground, to her disabled peers and the innate wisdom of crip* expertise and joy.
In the solo performance ‘Songs of the Wayfarer’, disabled choreographer and singer Claire Cunningham traverses landscapes of nature, stage and Gustav Mahler’s song cycle, led by the compass of crip* expertise and joy.
*Crip is a political and cultural identity embraced by some disabled individuals
Infos
Duration: approx. 75 minutes
Language: English
World premiere
Mousonturm co-production in the frame of Tanzplattform Rhein-Main
Accessibility
Accessibility of Event
Accessibility of Location
- Audio Description
- Sign Language
- Relaxed Performance
- Unreserved Seating (some on stage, beanbags and reclining seating options available
Sponsors and Supporters
Concept, Choreography, Performance by Claire Cunningham
Artistic Collaborator: Julia Watts Belser
Associate Director: Dan Watson
Dramaturg: Luke Pell
Set and Costume Design: Bethany Wells
Lighting Design: Chris Copland
Sound Design: Matthias Herrmann
Video Design: Michelle Ettlin
Executive Producer: Nadja Dias
Project & Access Producer: Vicky Wilson
Production Manager: Gregor Knüppel
Technician: Keir Martin
Company Stage Management: Anastasia Booth
Artistic Access Consultancy: Nelly Kelly, Panthea, Angela Alves, Rita Mazza, Naomi Sanfo-Ansorge
Mountaineering Consultants: Cormac Lynch, Simone Kenyon
Administrative Support (for HZT): Susanne Adam & Jeanette Gogoll
Songs of the Wayfarer by Claire Cunningham is a co-production by Künstler* innenhaus Mousonturm as part of Tanzplattform Rhein-Main. Funded as part of the Alliance of International Production Houses by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Supported by f.f.m — Freunde und Förderer des Mousonturms e.V. Tanzplattform Rhein-Main, a project of Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm and Hessian State Ballet, is made possible by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain and is funded by the Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main, the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture and the Foundation Alliance [Aventis Foundation, Crespo Foundation, Hans Erich und Marie Elfriede Dotter Foundation, Dr. Marschner Foundation, ODDO BHF Foundation, Foundation Polytechnic Society Frankfurt am Main].
Notes on sensory stimuli
- Moments of closeness to performer (with informed consent)
- Invitations to participate in actions Voluntary and with informed consent
- Possible use of fog/haze/bright lights / darkness - tbc
-Likely to be some descriptions of discrimination and ableism
Please see the website closer to the premiere for updated content and sensory information.
Biography Claire Cunningham
Claire Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performances. One of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, her work is rooted in the study and use/misuse of her crutches. She is the Einstein Professor of Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts at HZT, Berlin.