Doris Uhlich - Habitat / Halle E (pandemic version)

In the original version of Habitat / Halle E – which first premiered last autumn – the naked bodies of 120 people slap, vibrate and clash with each other to the sound of electronic and abstract techno tracks. Such a utopian place, where bodies can freely interact, touch each other’s sweaty skin and breath together, seems far, far away in view of the current pandemic. However, Doris Uhlich is prepared to accept this challenge, to find out where and how this utopia can still exist in times of Covid-19. What does the impossibility of physical intimacy mean? The performers – in this version there are only 41 – celebrate their unity in diversity, even while being socially distanced. The bodies are in search of real, communal experiences and create opportunities to connect with the collective energy. Habitat remains to be an unashamed hymn on the naked body that takes us beyond cultural inscriptions and normative beauty ideals. The body will not be reduced to a fetishized object, but we will encounter it in its materiality and it will thereby be shown in all its glory, mass and fragility.

This “pandemic version” of Habitat will not only adhere to the Covid-19 regulations but it will take them as a starting point to find new ways of connecting with each other.