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100º 2012: Is it hot in here?

Ninth edition of the Berlin chaotic “free-scene” performance descends on Mitte and Kreuzberg, promising dance, theater and a good measure of the unexpected. Our Blitz-guide offers a rundown of the best.

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Photo by Andreas Hartmann

The ninth edition of the Berlin chaotic “free-scene” performance descends on Mitte and Kreuzberg this weekend, promising dance, theater and a good measure of the unexpected.

The beauty of 100º is that it is a completely uncurated festival, held within the HAUs and the Sophiensæle, in which those who apply first get the best spots. This is democratic creativity at its best, it’s not your connections that get you a spot or even your talent, it’s just filling out the form and sending it in.

And if it’s any sign of how the festival has changed since 2004, this year over 30 productions listed their information entirely in English, proving that lack of mastery of the Teutonic tongue isn’t an excuse.

The productions that caught my eye this year include relatively traditional theater from Canadians (Where was I?), multinational dance (A dance that you haven‘t danced before) and two takes on old divas (Edinburgh Fringe fav Memories are Made of This, and Billie Holiday – Lady Sings The Blues). Crystal Tits wins my “Best Name for a Performance Group” award (again), while Goulash in the bathtub and WEIRDO III (the first of which won the 100º Jury Award in 2009) tie for “Best Performance Title”.

Tickets are sold on a day pass or festival pass basis, so just pick a day and let yourself stumble into some pleasant surprises. And make sure to check out the video installations along the way, or order a classical aria sung personally for you in Strangers in a Song.

The Exberliner Blitz Guide to the 2012 Festival is below. In the spirit of non-judgment, all English, or nonlanguage-dependent pieces, out of the over 130 total productions,  are listed below. Performances run from 19:00 on Thursday, 18:00 on Friday, 16:00 on Saturday and Sunday, and then there are all the DJed arty parties that end each night in both theaters.

 More information available at www.sophienaele.de and www.hebbel-am-ufer.de.

FESTIVAL LONG RUNS:

Aria by telephone: Strangers in a Song, Sibylle Polster and Dylan Bandy, (Thu-Sun, all day, phone booths in HAU 1, HAU 2 and the HAU 3 courtyard)

Track collection: Songs – Karaoke Stories, Transistor Collective, (Thu, HAU 2 foyer // 20:00, Fri-Sun, all day, HAU 2 staircase)

Animation in motionall inclusive II, Astrid Menze, (Thu-Fri 19:00-22.00 and Sat 18:00-21:00, shuttle service between HAU and the Sophiensæle)

Wordless sound installation: ESCAPE SURREALITY, BOVRI |  HAUSER, (Thu-Sun, all day, HAU 1 foyer)

THU, FEB 23:

Theater of distortion: The Rapture Will Be Televised III (19:00, HAU 1)

Multimedia performance: THE KING IS BLIND, Sharon Paz (19:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal) 

Movement/sound improvisationPhosphen, ensemble frei : flug (20:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

A Dance of everyday innovation: Geradeaus linksrein, Philipp Enders / Sergi Ortego Blanco (20:30, HAU 3 Probebühne)

Desert island performance: Spirit, Florentina Holzinger and Vincent Riebeek (21:00, HAU 1)

One-woman Eastern Europe: Goulash in the bathtub, Bori Szente, (22:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Old-timey cabaret: Memories are Made of This, Eva Meier (22:00, HAU 2 Foyer)

Rooted in infinity dance: Fire burning in your hair, Anna Nowicka Weronika Pelczyńska (22:00, HAU 3 Probebühne)

FRI, FEB 24

Icelandic/German/English dance theatre fantasy: A dance that you haven‘t danced before, Ásrún Magnúsdóttir and gunnur Martinsdóttir Schlüter (17:00, HAU 2)

Indian-flavored dance: SANTOSHAM, Johanna Devi (18:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal) 

Celluar memory dance: thinking in past tense (19:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Poetic encounters: Meet her at the love paradeSusan Ploetz and Yael Salomonowitz (19:00, Sophiensæle Virchowsaal)

Auto installation: Elena Ceaucescus Wunderkammer, IDAPERFORMS (20:00-22:00 every 15 minutes, Sophiensæle Hof, also Sun, Feb 26, 18:00-22:00 in front of HAU 2)

Experimental performance the third: WEIRDO III, Bastard Fools, (20:00, HAU 1 Bühne)

Redemption theater: W A R_the exile of beauty (work in progress), OPEN SYSTEM, (20:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal)

Gender bender classical theater: TRANSGIOVANNI, TERAZ POLIŻ (21:00, HAU 2)

Theater concert: Billie Holiday – Lady Sings The Blues, cinéma des étoiles, (22:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal)

Voice and movement chance performancehybridgame, Anna Weißenfels / Frauke Gerhard, (23:00, HAU 2)

SAT, FEB 25

Creature dance: GOLEM, Elena Walter / Christian Jung (16:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Cynical meta-art: Arriving.Soon., Nina Jan and Urša Sekirnik (17:00, HAU 1 Bühne)

Muscle play dance: Velocity Pumps, Iva Sveshtarova / Rose Beermann / Tessa Theisen (18:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Involuntary memory performance: Watching M.Cia.EcalE (19:00, HAU 3 Probebühne)

Mud performance: Africa Earth, Serge Olivier Fokoua & Marc Patrick Tchambo (19:00, Sophiensæle Kantine)

Drink and dance duet: We Might As Well Live, Sharon Smith and Tom Parkinson (21:00, HAU 2)

Leaky roof theater: Cuerteto para piano, Rotonda Teatro (22:00, HAU 2 Foyer)

Love letters performance: La Coda – Der Schwanz, cinquequarte (23:00, HAU 1)

Located movement: Un Espacio Vacío / An Empty Space, Ixchel Mendoza Hernández (23:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal)

Radio installation: Anda and do you believe everything I sing?, Anda, (23:00, HAU 2)

Surreal flamenco: Cabaret grotesquerìa, Miss Enabyme, (23:00, HAU 1)

SUN, FEB 26

Canadian Theater: Where was I?, Devin McCracken & Anna McCracken (16:00, Sophiensæle Virchowsaal)

Monty Python on Hartz IV: Life of Brian – Live on Stage, Act Absurdum (16:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Glass installation: Gramophone Performance, Emilia Badala, (16:00, HAU 2 Houseclub)

Angry ínstallationSeit Millionen von Jahren sind sie hier und wollen sich einfach nicht integrieren, GIRL GROUP (16:00, Sophiensæle Foyer)

Game performance from Mica Moca: Heavy composition in white, 77 Stolen Fish (17:00, HAU 3 Probebühne)

Experimental play: HERAT, Amelia Bande (17:00, Sophiensæle Kantine)

West Bank associative dance: How to get the water into the tire?, Sara Gebran (17:00, Sophiensæle Festsaal)

Japanese earthquake performance: succession after the succession, Yurie Ido & Tetsua Hori (18:00, HAU 2 Foyer)

Performance of the imperfect: SHAPESKIN, Moran Sanderovich (18:00, Sophiensæle Hochzeitssaal)

Skype theater: Virtual Dinner Party, The Internationalists (21:00, HAU 2 Houseclub)