Poelstra / Steijn / Siewert
feminine delight

Almost all pioneers of modern dance were women. So let’s imagine: We are a woman who wants to be a dancer. But we feel that we need to develop our own individual style – and that will not be easy. We will have to give up a lot to accomplish this. But we pull it off. And become very successful. And very powerful. But then we suddenly fall out of fashion, the audience does not like our work any more. The question now is, can we let go of everything that we used to believe in? Can we reinvent ourselves to stay in contact with our audience?

With unusual humour in dance, music and text, choreographer and performer Frans Poelstra, playwright and author Robert Steijn, and musician and composer Martin Siewert tell the story of a personal drama, that is at the same time part of the history of dance and theory. They follow the tracks of the work and life of those women who helped getting modern dance accepted. And those women who broke with the rules of modernism, becoming figureheads of postmodern choreography.

“feminine delight” is among the works at this year’s steirischer herbst that, on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary, take a look at the role of art avant-gardes by re-enacting a historic break at which new ideologies superseded the old ones. Purely fictional, of course. Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. But Poelstra and Steijn must admit that after reading books about Martha Graham and Trisha Brown they dance like they never danced before.

Autorin / Autor, Text: Frans Poelstra
Autorin / Autor, Text: Robert Steijn
Musikerin / Musiker: Martin Siewert
Tänzerin / Tänzer: Frans Poelstra
Tänzerin / Tänzer: Robert Steijn