Der Anfang

konnex was founded in 1990 by two dancers, Dorothea Hübner and Aurelia Staub. The subject matter of their first production "snapshot" - photography by Christian Wachter, music by Vögel Europas, choreography and dance by Dorothea Hübner and Aurelia Staub - was the confrontation of dance and photography. "Snapshot" was realised with financial support by the Department for Culture of the City of Vienna and subsequently given an award by the BMUK.

The next production explored poetry and prose by the Austrian Author Hertha Kräftner. "heft narrt krähe" was developed in cooperation with Literaturhaus Wien and Dokumentationsstelle für österreichische Literatur (Ulrike Diethardt, Evelyne Polt-Heinzl, Christine Schmidjell). In collaboration with the actress Stephanie Schmiederer the resulting work made a selection of texts available on several levels by interweaving word and movement. Dynamic and precise dance sequences and passages of text, both read live and recorded, gave an impression of the character, rhythm and visual structure of Kräftner's writing.

»Step by step the two dancers breath life force into the space. They leave traces and begin to fill the gaps where letters, words and sentences start dancing and jumping.«
Tanzaffiche, Feb/Mar '92

In 1992 the production was revised and performed again with Philipp Harnoncourt directing and Hans Rose acting. This new production also sees the first cooperation with Giordana Pascucci, who is still a core member of the company.

After Dorothea Hübner left the company Aurelia Staub became its sole artistic director. To this day crossover projects and a working method based on collective creation are the guiding principles of this artists' collective.

1994/95 brought a further enlargement of the team. "sidelines" (Choreography & dance: Milli Bitterli, Ingrid Kerec, Giordana Pascucci, Sybille Starkbaum, Aurelia Staub; Music: Helmut Neugebauer & Wolfgang Poor) saw the first collaboration with the visual artist Veronika Dirnhofer. Together with Aurelia Staub she is responsible for the show's concept.
"sidelines" was a collage of seven sequences that lead from absolute speed to slow down. Large size screen prints of DNA-fingerprints dominated the stage and posed questions of coding and identity.

A break followed during which Aurelia Staub concentrated on setting up T Junction - Centre for Contemporary Dance, and became its artistic director from 1996 until 1999.

1999 return to the productionprocess. With the piece: "The princess on the pumpkin" – based on the book by Heinz Janisch – konnex created for the first time a piece for children. The enthusiastic and moving experiences with a new audience determine the years to follow. The international team of artists (Christophe Dumalin, Giordana Pascucci, Alessandra Tirendi) surrounding Aurelia Staub grow together, develop and refine their working methods, experiment with new approaches to dance and theatre, searching for a common aesthetic, researching and questioning standardised movement. With a process oriented working method opening nights are only ever temporary goals. New versions of productions after their first run on stage are the rule.

»To continue researching an idea, to peel away inconsistencies, to delve further and further into the material, these are qualities we would not want to miss.«

The next few years see the realization of shows for young audiences. Musicians Joao de Bruco und Peter Panayi, visual artists Red White and Cynthia Schwertsik, director and actor Miguel Angel Gaspar and lighting designer Edgar Aichinger are important collaborators along the way.

 
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