Hard Bodies (working title)

Schauspiel Frankfurt and the artists from the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm are jointly organising a large-format dance production by the Austrian choreographer Doris Uhlich to debut in spring 2027. The piece “Hard Bodies” (working title) examines hardness as a phenomenon of our times.

The project began with an observation that hardness has become a distinctive state of our present day – as a basic tone of social discourse, as a political reflex and as a physical practice. In uncertain times of tension and polarisation, these conditions not only inscribe themselves in discourse, but also in our bodies – in muscle tone, breath, posture and economies of movement. “Hard Bodies” is conceived as a choreographic research and performance project on the interplay of hardness as a vital protection and involuntary hardening. The ensemble piece for nine diverse, international dancers explores how movement is coordinated when bodies are placed under tension, how contact is possible when proximity seems risky, and how encountering and approaching one another can be reimagined. Uhlich focuses on the work of muscles, tension and strength – which marks a break in her previous artistic work that had mainly emphasised softness, opening and the physicality of the flesh. “Hard Bodies” speaks to the viewers not as detached observers, but rather as fellow empathisers. Perception becomes “dance work” – physical, temporal and empathetic. And live music plays a central role. The Viennese musician Boris Kopeinig is developing a hybrid form of sound that combines composition and performance and directly influences muscle tone, fatigue and rhythmic compression. The set, stage and costume design by Juliette Collas and Yannik Zamboni combine interlinking structures and elastic materials which result in a dynamic energy field.

The project “Hard Bodies” is funded through General Project Funding by the German Federal Cultural Foundation. The world premiere is slated for spring 2027 at the Frankfurt Bockenheimer Depot.

Choreography/Artistic direction: Doris Uhlich
Sound design: Boris Kopeinig 
Set design: Juliette Collas 
Costume design: Yannik Zamboni 

Performances: Bockenheimer Depot, Frankfurt: 3–30 May 2027