FILM (2024)
Reconstruction of a Danse Macabre, Joan Turner Jara © Olga de Soto
RECONSTRUCTION OF A DANSE MACABRE, film
Created for the occasion of the exhibition Reconstruction of a Danse Macabre, conceived by Olga de Soto for the Museo Nacional Reina Sofía in Madrid (28 February - 1 July 2024), this eponymous film explores the themes of Kurt Jooss's canonical work, The Green Table (1932), and their resonance today in a world shaken by political, social, and human crises. Created in Germany in 1932, as the country was shifting towards Nazism, Jooss’ canonical ballet denounced the rise of fascism and war. Reconstruction of a Danse Macabre prolongs the memory of the ballet and reactivates its alert, while questioning the place of dance as a form of engagement.
The film gives voice to spectators and dancers from different generations and origins, who have seen or danced The Green Table at different moments in history and in various countries. Drawing on the ballet’s fable-like structure—where archetypal figures as Death, the Diplomats, or the Profiteer embody human failings—the film offers a collective act of remembrance, where each voice revives the memory of the work and its impact. From the description of scenes to the expression of emotions, and encompassing philosophical, political, or interpretative reflections, this act of memory explores the layering of the narrative and summons a range of discursive registers, traversed by gestural and melodic traces inscribed in their very bodies.
Through a polyphonic narrative—interweaving words in several languages, gestures, and movements—the film invites the viewer to gradually construct, or recall, their own mental and phantasmatic image of The Green Table. It explores how a choreographic work can transcend temporal and geographical boundaries, offering a reflection on the capacity of art to engage with contemporary political and social issues, while evoking the dramatic and emotional intensity of Kurt Jooss’s ballet.
The third corpus of the eponymous exhibition, Reconstruction of a Danse Macabre can be shown independently or alongside the other corpora of the exhibition—the immersive sound installation Voces I, the mixed modular corpus of works and documents, or future creations.
HDV, colour, sound, 43’45“
Language: Spanish, English, French and German, with subtitlesDirection, documentation, interviews, camera, and sound
Olga de SotoEditing
Olga de Soto, in collaboration with Julien ContreauSound mix
Benoît Pelé and Pierre GuffletWith testimonials by (in order of appearance): Christian Holder, Joan Turner Jara, Nora Salvo, Jeanne Brabants, Michelle Nadal, Ann Hutchinson Guest, Hanns Stein, Andras Uthoff, Edith del Campo, Philip Lansdale, Marina Grut, Juan Allende Blin, Toer van Schayk, Bruno Jacquin, Gerd Zacher, Jacqueline Challet-Haas, Jeanette Vondersaar, Fernando García
production Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid)
in collaboration with Niels Production (Brussels)
This film forms an integral part of the exhibition Reconstruction of a Danse Macabre, created by Olga de Soto at the invitation of Museo Nacional Reina Sofía, Madrid. Conceived within the framework of the Fisuras programme, the exhibition and film stem from Olga de Soto’s research and creative project based on Kurt Jooss’s The Green Table, and were made possible thanks to the financial support of the following institutions:
A TANZFONDS ERBE project, an initiative by the German Federal Cultural FoundationCoproduction
Centre Pompidou - Les Spectacles vivants (Paris), Festival d'Automne (Paris), Tanz Im August (Berlin), Tanzquartier Wien (Viena, AT), Les Halles de Schaerbeek (Brussels), Joint Adventures/Tanzwerkstatt Europa (Munich), Culturgest (Lisbon), Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier Languedoc-Roussillon (CCNM) in the frame of Jardin d'Europe – supported by the European Union (Montpellier, FR), Centre Chorégraphique National de Franche-Comté (Belfort), Open Latitudes (Les Halles de Schaerbeek, Brussels · Latitudes Contemporaines, Lille; Le Manège de Mons / Maison Folie, Mons · Cialo Umysl Foundation, Warsaw · Teatro delle Moire, Milano · Sin Arts and Culture Centre, Budapest · Le Phénix Scène nationale de Valenciennes · L'Arsenic, Lausanne) – with the support of the European Union, Charleroi danse - Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Brussels). With the support of the Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Direction générale de la Culture – Service de la danse, Wallonie-Bruxelles International (WBI), Archives Jooss / Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln (Koln).With additional support of Théâtre de Liège and Centre de développement chorégraphique d'Uzès.
Research grants
Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (FR), Aide à la recherche et au Patrimoine en Danse - Centre national de la danse (Paris) et du Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles _ Direction générale de la Culture — Service de la danse (BE)Olga de Soto is supported by Ministère de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Direction générale de la Culture – Service de la danse and is accompanied by Grand Studio (Brussels).