Flowing with words and music, the poetry-music collaborative performance, Somersaults, brought on stage poems that spoke about childhood memories (Es Waldblüemli, in Swiss German, “a flower from the forest”); reflect on death, Ich fürchte die Enge des Sarges (I fear the narrowness of the coffin), and the loss of loved ones (A poet can never die). At the same time, some expressed deep joie de vivre, such as Accro de la vie (Addicted to life).
Somersaults was an artistic collaboration between Andrea Grieder (poet), Manuela Wenger (actress and speaker) and Diana-Maria Turcu. The artists’ plan was to explore different spaces for the performances: from culture venues to a garden, to art galleries, with the vision that art creates vibes that raise the human consciousness about what it means to be human, a consciousness that it is needed in every space and time of life.
Two poems were dedicated to women. These were The Vomiting Barbie, with Barbie as the main character struggling with norms and values of what beauty means and being a woman in body and a world of conflicting desires, and Beben (Trembling), which explored women’s sensuality “until magma flows over”.
The German word for Somersaults, and title of the performance, means “tumbling trees”.
Poems written playfully around the German meaning of the words spoke about Tumbling Trees journeying through life where Purzel (the one who tumbles) is sometimes the Tree’s friend and other times a run-away companion.
Andrea is currently Director of inArtes, an arttherapy institute in Zurich. Email: info@andreagrieder.com
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