<B>Toeing the Line Between Meaning and Fun</B><BR>The performers of Bianca Li's latest piece got applause, the choreographer, boos. <BR>By Jochen Schmidt in The Frankfurter Allgemeine<P><BR>BERLIN. The project could not have been more ambitious. Blanca Li's ballet "Borderline/Grenzgänge," the Spanish choreographer's second work for the BerlinBallett at the Komische Oper, promises audiences a critique of "the everyday insanities of modern society," a "reflection on our world, as seen through the eyes of various artists" and the temperament of a woman "who realizes that our society suffers from many ills." Unfortunately, these are all empty promises.<P>The first scene takes us to a mental hospital. Seven people in straitjackets roll around on the floor and on a bed. Yet the straitjackets have colorful appliques, and those wrapped up in them perform funny dance steps as soon as they climb to their feet.<P><A HREF="http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?rub={B1311FFE-FBFB-11D2-B228-00105A9CAF88}&doc={519DA5D2-E45B-4454-8A68-1C83E28F7F95}" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

Blowing cold and warm
By James Woodall for The FT

There was no shortage of warmth at the Komische Oper a week later. After Spaniard Blanca Li abandoned Berlin in a huff last summer, the city's jazziest opera house was left without a dance chief. Adolphe Binder, now in charge, has invited in a sparky choreographer from Brazil, Deborah Colker. She won a Laurence Olivier Award in 2000 and brings to Berlin her 1999 Casa.

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Press Release
(In German, but i think it's clear enough)

Endlich Sommer:
BerlinBallett - Komische Oper
zeigt

zum letzten Mal in dieser Spielzeit
CASA
von Deborah Colker - Brasilien
heute, 20.00 Uhr

Screensaver
von Rami Be´er - Israel
20.6., 23.6., 1.7., 11.7.03
jeweils 20.00 Uhr

Z tanZatelier
Tänzer zeigen eigene Choreographien
im KIS in Kreuzberg
4.7., 5.7., 6.7.03
jeweils 20.00 Uhr

Karten ab 8,- Euro

Komische Oper Berlin
Behrenstrasse 55-57
10117 Berlin/Mitte
www.komische-oper-berlin.de
Kartentelefon: 030.47997400

Spielzeitferien 12.7.-18.8.2003

Spielzeiteröffnung
CASA beim Kunstfest Weimar 3/4.9.03
ab 15.9.03 wieder in Berlin
nächste Premiere: POEM/Body of Poetry 18.10.2003

<small>[ 14 June 2003, 03:50 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>