A uniformly seeming mass with eccentric movements, constantly halfway between dancing to hard techno-beats: this only describes parts of the high-performance dance of “Soul Chain”, a piece by the renowned Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal, which she created especially for the dance ensemble “tanzmainz” of the Mainz State Theater. Accurate and uniform, the bodies pulsate to the beat and yet the individual suddenly and sometimes almost imperceptibly beats his own path. “Soul Chain” makes the contrast between the individual and the group visible.
Inspired by strong emotions around love, Soul Chain” combines ballet and electro to create gripping contemporary dance. The 17 dancers side become a swarm of energy in a mesmerizing choreography that won the German Theater Prize Der Faust in 2018 and was celebrated by the audience at the Tanzplattform Deutschland in Munich in 2020.
Even though Sharon Eyal says that Soul Chain” is a play about love and longing, one should not expect too much romance. Rather, the movements are animalistic and pure. A steaming group that moves in rhythmic unison, in unison, with the utmost discipline. But the longer a unison lasts, the more time we spectators have to look for the differences. That we find them is fully intentional. Because in the same, says the choreographer, you see all the more how different we all are. And here, in the contrast between group and individual, is her declaration of love for the absolute uniqueness of each individual.