Totentanz

What if, when we die, we don't need to balance our accounts? What if, instead, we need to make a dance? A dance of death.

Totentanz is a new piece of theatre from Shotput that approaches death with dark humour and an open heart.

In a dance hall, two performers try to create the perfect dance of death - and fail each time. Over the course of the evening, they try out different shapes, different styles, different (sometimes glittering) costumes - trying and failing, laughing, kicking, and screaming, all in an effort to make the perfect totentanz. A cry against the unknown. A final dance at the afterparty. Witness their outrageous struggle, and peer into the mystery of death, and life.

This is an intimate performance, with the audience immersed in the dance hall designed by Shotput associate artists Anna Yates and Emma Jones, with Cat Myers original music vibrating through the floor.

Totentanz is funny and unsettling, an intimate spectacle of big dancing, haunted spaces, bold visuals, and arresting music - from one of Scotland's most original voices in theatre and dance, Shotput.

Come and join the dance.

The 2023 Totentanz tour was accompanied by a photographic project involving community members from Platform, Mareel, Dundee Rep and Dance Base, Edinburgh. The photographs were made in response to the themes within the work and were exhibited alongside the performance.

Totentanz is available for touring, please email info@shotput.org to enquire.

CREDITS

Co-creators and performers | Lucy Ireland and Jim Manganello

Creative Producer | Helen McIntosh

Scenic and Costume Designer | Anna Yates

Lighting Designer | Emma Jones

Composer | Cat Myers

Sound Designer | Garry Boyle

Costume Maker | Petros Kourtellaris

Voice Artist | Claire Willoughby

Pre-show lounge music improvised and played by Mike Kearney

Engagement Coordinator | Eoin McKenzie

Photographic Collaborator | Brian Hartley

PAST PERFORMANCES

Friday 15 and Saturday 16 September 2023 | Tramway, Glasgow

Thursday 21, Friday 22 and Saturday 23 September 2023 | Mareel, Shetland

Thursday 28, Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September 2023 | Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh

Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 October 2023 | Dundee Rep, Dundee

Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 October 2023 | Dunoon Burgh Hall, Argyll

A work-in-progress was performed as part of Dance International Glasgow at Tramway in October 2021. This work was commissioned by Dance Base Scotland, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre and Tramway as part of #LoveDanceScotland. Supported by the Scottish Government’s Performing Arts Venue Relief Fund through Creative Scotland.