LUCKY TRIMMER #30 – On the Move! Following a successful launch in Frankfurt, LUCKY TRIMMER is finally returning to Berlin. Known for short, high-energy dance performances and programmes that delight in turning conventions on their head, LUCKY TRIMMER brings a selection of international artists to the stage. The festival presents compact pieces brimming with ideas, risk and surprise. The 30th edition takes place at the Gallus Theater in Frankfurt and at DOCK11 / DOCK ART in Berlin, thus connecting two cities renowned for their vibrant contemporary dance scenes.
Since 2004, this platform for unconventional ideas and bold experiments in contemporary dance has showcased the work of both emerging and established artists.
The time limit of a maximum of ten minutes for each performance challenges the artists to get to the heart of their ideas – in a focused, direct and highly effective manner. In the process, the avant-garde meets pop culture, and movement blends with theatre, circus, music and installation art. The result is a curated mix of very different artistic styles.
LUCKY TRIMMER was founded in Berlin in 2004 and developed within the city’s vibrant independent dance scene, characterised by experimental energy, artistic openness and the courage to constantly challenge established norms. After a break of several years, the festival is now returning to DOCK11. This return feels less like a comeback and more like a homecoming: back to the place where the idea for LUCKY TRIMMER was born.
The anniversary edition, under the artistic direction of choreographer Raffaele Ir, brings together a group of bold artists from all over the world who push boundaries with their work and each bring their very own perspective on movement, narrative and performance.
With: Claudio Scalia, Ismaele Buonvenga & Marco Di Dato (IT), Lior Lazarof, Omer Tichauer & Romi Faigler (IL), Zach Enquist, Rachel McNamee and Riley O’Flynn (SWE), Felix Chang (DE), Miila Kaarina (NL), Caterina Mochi Sismondi, Elisa Mutto & Michelangelo Merlati (IT)
Durationj: 60 min.
LUCKY TRIMMER Team: Raffaele Irace, Valeria Palma, Davide Degano, Amy Stafford, Lars Aulerich, Carla Wolff, Maciej Rusinek.
A production by FREIGETANZT e.V. in collaboration with DOCK ART Berlin and GALLUS THEATER Frankfurt
Programme:
SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME
MIILA KAARINA (NL)
A performative negotiation, a constant tug-of-war between the desire for control and a body that simultaneously longs to let go. On a stage strewn with red buckets – vessels for fear, refuge and chaos – shame takes on a physical form. Each bucket contains fragments of struggle and protection, marking a carefully constructed yet fragile path in the search for order. The dance unfolds as an exploration of control and surrender, in which vulnerability finds its own rhythm. The boundaries begin to blur: the attempt to let go becomes, at the same time, an attempt to be real. What do we hold on to? What holds us? And when we finally let go – what remains?
Choreography, Performance: Miila Kaarina
LOVE-LOVE
LIOR LAVAROF (IL)
A dance theatre piece inspired by the worlds of tennis and war. The starting point is the paradoxical tennis term ‘love’, which can mean both zero points and surrender. This dual meaning forms the basis for a choreographic language rooted in repetition, endurance and the tension between control and surrender. The stage space is transformed into a hybrid space – simultaneously a tennis court and a battlefield. Two dancers navigate between rivalry and partnership, between competition and care.
The work explores how gestures from sport resemble gestures of survival, and how the desire to win collides with the need for connection. Through physical intensity and subtle playful moments, the fragile balance between choice and necessity, play and struggle, becomes visible.
Ultimately, “LOVE-LOVE” asks what remains when victory becomes impossible – and whether love can endure in a space governed by the logic of zero.
Choreography: Lior Lazarof
Performance: Omer Tichauer, Romi Faigler
Costumes: Maayan Sheris
Music: Elad Cohen Bonen
ALL HONESTY ASIDE
ZACH ENQUIST (SWE)
This piece is a retelling of that argument you’ve had with your partner a thousand times over – yet you’re not sure whether it’s really the argument you need to have, or simply the one you know, the one that feels familiar. With a distinctive physical language of movement and pointed, sharp wit, the work explores the subtleties of communication and the quiet power of what remains unsaid. Supported by the Mary von Sydow Foundation Fund. Awarded the Tanja Liedtke Fellowship Award at the 39th International Choreography Competition Hannover (June 2025).
Choreography: Zach Enquist
Performance: Zach Enquist, Riley O’Flynn
Wú | Yī (無｜壹)
FELIX CHANG (GER)
This dance performance takes up the concept of ‘public solitude’ coined by Konstantin Stanislavski and combines it with spatial concepts drawn from Taoist philosophy. At the heart of the performance lies the history of the so-called White Terror in Taiwan – a period
of political persecution spanning from 27 February 1947 to 15 July 1987. The work draws on the fate of Shih Ru-Chen, who was persecuted by the government during this time after being accused of espionage for reading Marxist literature. To avoid arrest, he lived in hiding for almost eighteen years in the cramped spaces within his own home. Despite this isolation, he held fast to the conviction that ideas were the true expression of his freedom.
Choreography, Performance: Felix Chang
LIF
CLAUDIO SCALIA (IT)
The universe bends under the weight of Ragnarök: three long winters shroud the world in ice, followed by three devastating battles that reduce everything to ashes. From the ruins, Líf and Lífthrasir awaken from their hiding place amongst the roots of Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree that has preserved the spark of life beyond the destruction. Their journey, marked by fear and uncertainty, leads them into a future that has yet to be built. The two figures become symbols of continuity and hope. At the centre of a shattered universe, they show that even in moments of greatest destruction, new life can emerge. Líf celebrates the resilience of life and reminds us that after every ending, there remains room for a new beginning – rebuilt step by step.
Choreography: Claudio Scalia
Performance: Ismaele Buonvenga, Marco Di Dato
Music: Danheim, Asaf Avidan
Technical direction: Sammy Torrisi
Dramaturgy: Claudio Scalia, in collaboration with Sergio Campisi
COPPÉLIA PROJECT
CATERINA MOCHI SISMONDI (IT)
A mechanical doll, an illusion, a broken body – thrown off balance, suspended like a marionette. This solo explores the theme of identity and the masks we wear in everyday life. Inspired by the ballet “Coppélia – La Fille aux Yeux d’Émail” (1870), originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Léo Delibes, the dancer and acrobat Elisa Tutto combines classical dance movements with contortion, the art of extreme bending, and the circus technique of hair hanging. In this unique technique, the performer rises from the floor into the air using only her hair – made possible by the work of rigger and artist Michelangelo Merlati. The music is by Bea Zanin, who draws on motifs from Delibes’ ballet and combines them with electronic sounds and live compositions.
Choreography: Caterina Mochi Sismondi
Music: Bea Zanin
Performance: Elisa Mutto
Rigger: Michelangelo Merlati