Icarus fled the island of Crete with self-made wings made of feathers and wax. Although he was warned not to fly too high, he flew too close to the sun, the wax melted and he fell into the sea, where he drowned. The dance piece ‘Wings of Wealth and Woe’ by the German-Syrian choreographer Saeed Hani transfers the legend from Greek mythology to human history. How far away are we from the melting point of the wax that holds our common human existence together? Haven't humanity's inherent greed and insatiable hunger for more long since determined human coexistence to such an extent that the hope of avoiding the crash is increasingly fading?

 

Ever-expanding turbo-capitalism, epitomised by power-obsessed tech billionaires and corporations focused on maximum profit, is exacerbating social injustice and environmental degradation and dividing people into just two categories, the winners and the losers. Is the principle of solidarity dead, if it ever lived at all?

 

Fear of the stranger is a deeply rooted, evolutionary feeling that has arisen from the need to protect oneself from unknown dangers. In relation to other people, however, this fear is usually based on prejudices, misunderstandings or irrational fears and not on real threats. Do these fears undermine the human capacity for empathy?

 

In a world where success and achievement take precedence over interpersonal relationships, many people lose the support that genuine relationships can provide. The pursuit of recognition and status often means that deep, authentic relationships are neglected, leading to loneliness. The result is empty, superficial contact that satisfies the need for social interaction but not the longing for genuine closeness and understanding. How much more fulfilling would our lives be if we valued genuine closeness more again?

 

Credits:

Concept, Choreography, Direction & Stage design: Saeed Hani

Dancers: Edgar Ioannis Avetikyan, Rafail Boumpoucheropoulos, Elise de Heer, Gilda De Vecchis, Filippo Nannucci, Sara Nicastro, Gianna Sargent, Lorenzo Rispolano, Jesper Sandvik, Eefje van den Bergen, Ruri Wakiyama, Jun Wang

Music: Jakob Schumo

Choreographic Assistance: Lorenzo Rispolano, Malwina Stepien

Costume Design: Carolin Schäfer

Lighting Design: Saeed Hani & Kendy Tanzmann

Stage Manager: Jens Pöschel

Lighting Technician: Kendy Tanzmann

Sound Engineer: Florent Léo Chaintiou

Workshop Director: Franziska Hummel

Production Design Lead: Nadine Baske

Head of Wardrobe: Christina Sieber

Administrative Assistant: Ilka Bothe

Stage Supervisor: Piotr Ozimkowski

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Photos by: Pawel Sosnowski