“Things are yellow, green, red. They can be stationary or rotating. Some are twisted into really weird shapes. They can have stripes, they can have dots. Me, I like those that are soft like pillows. There are really many things, there is no end to them! Say ‘things’ if you see them too!” The performance explores the issue of ecology in an innovative and humorous way, raising awareness of the consequences of using plastic and promoting care for the environment. In the performance, which is intended for a younger audience, various plastic objects that surround us in everyday life appear on stage, and Julia and Jan place them in a completely new context, triggering new feelings and ideas in the spectator. They invite the audience to explore the mysterious and interesting plastic objects with them, using the form of contemporary dance to inform them of the issue of ecology in an innovative and humorous way. “The performance prompts us to think about the relationships between matter, things and people, and thus fits into the modern and increasingly acute and topical consideration of the roles of people on this planet (Maša Radi Buh, Contemporary Puppetry, 30 April 2021). In 2021, Things Thing received the Special Jury Award at the 11th Biennial of Puppetry Artists of Slovenia for playful criticism of the (un)useful plastic objects.
Choreographs, authors and performers: Julia Keren Turbahn, Jan Rozman
Performance in German sign language: Jan Kress
Set design: Dan Pikalo, Jan Rozman
Lighting design: Annegret Schalke
Sound design: Andres Bucci/Future Legend
Costume design: Tanja Pađan/Kiss the Future
Outside eye: Sanja Tropp Frühwal
Composition, Text and Vocal in ‘Dinge Dingen’: Alexander Patzelt
Translation and vocal in ‘Reči reči’: Manca Trampuš
Illustration: Matija Medved
Mentoring: Gabi Dan Droste, Benjamin Zajc
Executive producers: Sabrina Železnik, Patricia Oldenhave / Alexander Schröder
Technical director and sound designer (LGL): Aleš Erjavec
Light directors (LGL): Gregor Kuhar, Maša Avsec
Stage technicians (LGL): Kemala Vrabac Kordiš, Slobodan Ilić
Workshop (LGL): Zoran Srdić, Iztok Bobić
Production (LGL): Alja Cerar Mihajlović
Photo: Nada Žgank
Technical director and sound designer (on tours): Janko Oven
Sound designer (on tours): Damjan Delak
Production: Emanat
Co-production: Ljubljana Puppet Theatre in collaboration with FELD Theater für junges Publikum
Duration of the performance: 50 minutes
Jan Rozman (1991) is a dancer, performer and choreographer who works between Ljubljana and Berlin. In his artistic practice, he deals with the extended notion of corporeality, material semiotics, textures, gaps, errors and confusion, ecology, imagination, (science) fiction, and humour. He focuses his work on the research and articulation of relevant performance expressions for the post-internet/Anthropocene era. He studied dance at the Secondary Preschool Education and Gimnazija Ljubljana (SVŠGUGL) and choreography at the SNDO in Amsterdam. In 2018, he completed his master’s studies at the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT).Julia Keren Turbahn (1990) graduated in media and cultural studies from the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf and studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney as a DAAD scholarship holder for dance studies. During her studies, she was interested in the production of knowledge through artistic research and how different forms of knowledge are produced in an artistic research process working with movement. In 2019, she completed her studies in “Dance, Context, Choreography” at the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT). Her interest in the moving body as an inherent part of her artistic practice is reflected in moving in different positions and spaces in artistic projects.