Excerpts from Press Reviews "Yes Yes to Moscow", 2007 (with Mark Jackson), premiered 11.10.2007, Deutsches Theater BOX und BAR, Berlin, "Remains", premiered in April 2002 in the Sophiensæle, "Jerusalem Syndrom", premiered 25.07.2003, Berlin, Sophiensæle, "Creatures of Habit", premiered 15.07.2004, Berlin, Sophiensæle, "Eine amerikansiche Nacht" ("An American Night"), premiered 4.12.2004 Freiekammerspiele Magdeburg "Gute Laune Löffeln" ("Spooning up a good mood"), premiered 24.11.2005 Berlin, Theater unterm Dach "Ich dich auch" (I, you too) - choreographed with Rachael Lincoln, premiered 02.01.2003, Berlin, Sophiensælen, 12. Tanztage "Blocked", "Let's Sleep On It", "Old Hat" - choreographed with the wee dance company, Premiered 03.09.1999, Berlin, Pfefferberg, 9th Tanztage "Äug" - choreographed with the wee dance company, premiered 04.08.2000, Berlin, Sophiensæle "plan b" - choreographed with the wee dance company, premiered 04.07.2001, Dresden, Derevo Laboratorium "nebenan" - choreographed with the wee dance company, premiered 5. September 2007, Kusthaus Tacheles, Berlin "nebenan"(with the "wee dance company") "... dramaturgically clever ... inventive duets and trios full of lasciviousness, acrobatic concatenations and plaitings ... a delicate portrait of self-conscious shyness." Volkmar Draeger, Neues Deutschland, 8./9. September 2007 "In dance, the three performers display the complete emotional range of love ... impressive ... although there's no happy end, the audience is thrilled." Tanja Kampe, Haller Tagesblatt, 02. August 2007 Yes Yes to Moscow (2007) with Mark Jackson Die Sehnsucht läuft ins Leere, wenn sie sich erfüllt hat, dem Schock der Begegnung mit den eigenen Träumen werden die Schwestern vielleicht nicht standhalten. Tanz ist hier nichts Harmonisches, sondern unter Umständen ein Abgrund, in den der Mensch zu stürzen droht. Material können "Copying-Mechanismen" sein, Zwangshandlungen, Selbstverletzungen, Bewegungsfloskeln aus dem Alltag, Gesten, wie das Zucken der Augenbrauen, mit denen Mann und Frau in zu lauten Räumen Kontakt zueinander herstellen ... Die Schauspieler waren so gut, dass ich als Regisseur völlig versagt hätte, weil mir im Prinzip alles gefiel, was sie machten... Entire article Jochen Schmidt, taz 11. Oktober 2007 Gute Laune Löffeln ("Spooning up a good mood") (2005) Sommer Ulrickson... orders "Spooning up a good mood", a danced and spoken anti-depressive medication again the minor-key feeling of our times. How soothing that someone finally pleads for more real pleasure where others are still stuck on superficial fun... Thanks to a fluffy pink blindfold the actress perpetually just misses the others in one of the most perfectly choreographed scenes. Hilarity was rarely so hilarious. Sommer Ulrickson was able to create a wonderful plea – have courage to be playful! Berliner Morgenpost 27. November 2005 Eine amerikanische Nacht (2004) …arms and hands tell things about a figure that a textual dialogue wouldn’t know how to say…Ulrickson doesn’t set the mediums of dance and drama side by side. Instead, she coordinates various ways of reading or seeing. If body or text, if choreographed movement or spoken word: what’s crucial remains the aesthetic immediacy of the physical individual. Theater der Zeit (Germany’s leading theater magazine), Januar 2005 This weekend was the premiere of a movement-filled and extremely moving theater piece from the American dancer and choreographer Sommer Ulrickson ... Alexander Polzin's slanted stage is a reflection of the distance between appearance and reality. But this is not even the cause of suffering. The real suffering comes from the discovery that appearances are deceptive: the reality looks less and less like the appearance. The reality itself threatens to drown... Sommer Ulrickson and the ensemble succeed in achieving extremely forceful, penetrating images of insecurity. “An American Night“ shows neither a horrible nor a glorious America, but instead a single crumbling facade. And: we can recognize ourselves in this. America is close. Magdeburg Volksstimme, 7.12.2004 Together with her seven performers, stage designer Alexander Polzin, and composer Hannes Strobl, Sommer Ulrickson succeeds skillfully in taking the opulent theme “America“ and creating something that one can experience “sense-ually“... moments, situations handled with precision... This is how she achieves her self-set goal of a “composition of text, movement and music“ – with great success. A round of applause for the achievement of this close-knit ensemble in Magdeburg. Leipziger Volkszeitung, 8.12.2004 Creatures of Habit (2004)Fotos Creatures of Habit“ deals with habits – especially the bizarre shapes self assertion and survival can take on in humans. The best form of survival seems to be when one simply doesn’t have anything to do with the others - one just pretends to. The main thing is that each person is enthusiastic about him or herself, about their own softness, openness, and willingness to be there for the others. However, when the other actually comes he relys on the one whose helping hand previously disappointed him. Berliner Zeitung, 19.02.2004 ...the players don’t manage to come together because all are possessed with their own fixed desires and dreams. If the desired object behaves differently than wanted the pursuer reacts with brutality... if someone wants to lean on you, you trip them bringing this support-needing person to fall. The phobia of being touched in this context leads to trickery and deceptions in the battle of pursuit, rapes or submissiveness. One shows off with one’s charm. If another is moved or impressed by this, he is rejected. .... In the end, amongst a general aggressiveness with defensive punches or slaps, impeding (obstructing) attacks, siege situations, refusals of tenderness and torture... a woman crawls along the floor... Neues Deutschland, 22.07.2004 The refined boxed-in space with the poisonous-green floor and the climbable, hairy wall – most of all the nasty plastic “Skin layer“ - leaves not only the performers but also the audience in the Sophiensaele gulping for air. Zitty, Nr. 16/2004 In this bubble out of plastic the five dancers are at home in front of their white plush wall. In, on and in front of this wall they stagger around in colorful clothing like insects in a butterfly net. They accost each other with glances and hands. But actually it’s about the pleasure of proving one’s own superiority and letting the others fall in just the right moment. Stumbling, falling, recovering are varied choreographically & logically. Berliner Morgenpost, 19.07.2004 Here snake meets grasshopper. Here one lurks, watches like a hawk, creeps, pounces, devours and molts.. It’s the impulse to eat against the reflex to flee – fight or flight. Animal instincts: sometimes it appears foreign - sometimes humorous. It is however not a moral story. The viewer is spared uncomfortable self realization – moralizing. But one does ask oneself “Am I predator or prey?” Tagesspiegel, 17.07.2004 Sommer Ulrickson’s piece „Creatures of Habit“ describes situations from every day life in sensitively observed as well as oppressive images. tanznetz.de, 16.07.2004 Jerusalem Syndrom (2003)Fotos Fünf Tänzer erkunden in oft simultan-getanzten Szenen vor Videobildern "ihr" Verhältnis zu Jesus. Mit sphärisch-unwirklichen Klängen und folkloristischer Musik wird mit unglaublicher Körperlichkeit der Tanz der Individualisten immer wieder zu synchronen Formationen geführt. Es entsteht ein assoziationsreiches Tanztheater - kommunikativ, agitatorisch, direkt und in seiner "göttlichen" Dimension sinnlich. Magdeburger Volksstimme, 20.09.2003 Truly Godly: grandiose dance-theater in the Sophiensaele The background for this completely grandiose dance and theater evening is the psychological phenomenon that affects particular tourists in Israel…The 6-member ensemble dances and plays taking over the room with virtuosic physicality, humor and tempo until they are exhausted. The spectator also becomes dizzy due to the overbearing attack on the associations that clouds logic while the senses receive stimulations from all directions. All powerful, all mighty, one thinks and is surprised by the appearance of these terms that one otherwise never uses, what a Godly production! Berliner Morgenpost, 27.07.2003 Deep emotion and devotion, trust and hysteria: All these types of religious seizure use the body as their stage. They describe conditions of arousal that have a completely different meaning in the context of relationships between people. The piece, from the choreographer Sommer Ulrickson, originally from California and living in Berlin since 1998, thrives on this sort of ambivalence. Die Tageszeitung, 28.07.2003 Humorous-dynamic lamentations in the Sophiensalen Thank God that the California theater-maker and choreographer frees herself quickly from the content-determined stipulations. She shows the effects as an impressive Kaleidoscope of dynamic exstacies and alert delights. And she does this with humorous criticism on the commercialization of the sacred: “Rent a cross” is the name of one of the stations in this furious, condensed, passionate dance-in-the-round… The audience sits in a magical triangle in the middle of the Festsaal of the Sophiensaele while it is ensnared by five dancers and one actor. Enriched with candles, crosses and the sounds of lamentations they always find fresh new ways to force their bodies powerfully into enraptured acceleration. Tip Berlin, 8.2003 …ecstatic solos, energetic duets, eligiac trios and the rhythmic group, video projections, autobiographical pieces, naked skin, humorous, scenes… the dancers are as virtuosic as they are energetic… a quiet, skillfully crafted choreography. Kultura Online, 8.2003 Ich dich auch (2003) (I, you too) - choreographed with Rachael LincolnFotos Jede Geste, jede Drehung und Wendung sind von tänzerischer Musikalität. Ihr Spiel mit den Bierflaschen, ihre Eskapaden mit Tisch und Stuhl als grandioser Slapstick sind verblüffend - ein einziges Bewegungswunder. Märkische Volksstimme, 23.09.2003 "In ihrem Eifersuchts-Tanztheaterstück "Ich dich auch" kam das männliche Objekt der Begierde mal als herumgeschubster Tisch, mal als überbordende Bierflasche daher. Die beiden Damen heimsten an diesem dreiteiligen, sehr gemischten Auftaktabend der Tanztage den größten Erfolg ein. Mit gutem Tanz, viel Humor und einer Prise Kabarett zeigten sie, was passiert, wenn eine Frau die Freundin ihres Mannes trifft. Ein kurzes, aber köstliches Vergnügen." Berliner Morgenpost, 05.01.2003 "Doch zunächst zeigen die Kalifornierinnen Rachael Lincoln und Sommer Ulrickson, was ein professioneller Aufritt ist. Tempobewusst und variantenreich verfangen sich die Tänzerinnen in imitatorischen Fallstricken. "Ich dich auch" nennen sie ihre Studie einer Frau, die der Freundin ihres Freundes begegnet und dabei immer mehr mit deren (Körper-)bild verschmilzt." Der Tagesspiegel, 04.01.2003 "…choreographers Rachael Lincoln and Sommer Ulrickson were the winners of the evening. They dealt with the situation of the sudden discovery of unfaithful women breathtakingly. They slam bottles of beer, which one sees perhaps in theater or film but rarely in real life – and turn the construction worker gesture into real glamour with their feminine version…. this drinking out of half liter bottles was sexy, sovereign and hilarious. …their limbs flew through the air, the audience in the overcrowded room raged – the artists themselves had to suppress a laugh attack - and even the critics were satisfied. Thank Ulrickson and Lincoln, who with their breathtaking „destroyed marriage drama“ created a sort of suction from which it was impossible to free onesself. And they are wonderfully funny without intellectual heaviness and bitter cynicism like we are used to on German stages - the saving grace in our needs for the soul. And they slam the beer so erotically that one really just wants to join them." Tageszeitung, 06.01.2003 "Remains"Fotos "The elements dance, language, music and also acrobatic and mimicry melt into a Gesamtkunstwerk*. “The worst” spoken at the end “ is Boredom without pain.” “Remains” is never boring, not even for a second." *(German term meaning overall, comprehensive, well-connected interdisciplinary piece of work) taz, 20.04.2002, Annett Gröschner "An evening of strange stimulus connected through dance, language, music and performance which the fascinates the public…after a little over an hour enthusiastic applaus for “Remains” in the Sophiensaele in Berlin. … melodious, rhythmic, music of incredibly strong character…" Humor is not spared. Tenderness, gracefulness and charm are short, important answers to the mood of general aggression. Märkische Oderzeitung, 19.04.2002, Lorenz Tomerius "Until now it has not been said that all these shocking events that the players experience are incredibly funny: especially the reflections of the absurdity of the situation which can be seen in their stoic faces. There is a visible competition between astonishment and the need to hold everything together." Berliner Zeitung, 20.04.2002, Ulrich Seidel "…they mistrust each other, manipulate each other, hurt each other and reconcilliate, go crazy or sober up. There exists a danger, but from which direction it comes, since when it exists and how long it will last remains unclear… The direction also offers myriad possibilites of interpretation and especially breathtaking dancers, among them the director herself." Annett Groeschner (FAZ) April 20th, 2002 "plan b"(mit der "wee dance company") "... Ihre Uraufführung von "Plan B" im Derevo-Laboratorium ist überraschend, in den Mitteln spielerisch offen ... bemerkenswerte szenische Einfälle ... schlichtweg umwerfend." Sächsische Zeitung, Freitag, 6. Juli 2001 "... Die wee dance company ist eines der erfreulichsten Beispiele, wie sich Gelassenheit und Qualität zu intelligenter Symbiose finden. Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, 6. Juli 2001 "Äug"(mit der "wee dance company") "Fragments of wonderful dance are presented by the wee dance company… one repeatedly goes into raptures as Dan Pelleg and Marko Weigert, turning into "dance-twins", move elegantly and coolly as always through space and time. Sometime their colleague Sommer Ulrickson joins perfectly into this matrix of flawlessly formed litheness, sometimes she's their counterpart aiming solely at expression. … Cold, matter-of-fact words … meet with charming, sovereign, nonchalant dancing." Zitty, Nr. 17/2000, Äug / T. M. "Scenes from the Marriage-Catalog, The wee dance company with "Äug" in the Sophiensæle “…The spectators sitting in the theatre have high expectations. As the piece comes to an end, enthusiastic "bravo" calls demonstrate just how well they have been taken care of by the wee dance company. The dancers … share a sympathetic non-complexity. They take pleasure in movement-dialogues with elegant, sharp-witted malice, and even the well-worn act of one bar-singer and two men… wins new facets thanks to their disarming freshness." Berliner Zeitung, 11.08.2000 / Michaela Schlagenwerth Drama as a human comedy, uncustomary danced interpretation of a customary theme - Berliner Company "… Dance which is fun to watch and precisely therefore succeeds in creating a convincing border-experience … dance in technical and acrobatic perfection and an unconventional wealth of inventiveness … The result is more than the sum of the details. Here there are no style-stereotypes. Here everything available is employed with sovereignty, both very naturally and poetically, and dramatically as well. Here people are creating states of mind with their bodies: enduring power, experiencing power. The being is left to itself. This choreography carries a message of mankind's fragility…" Mittelbayerische Zeitung, 02. 12. 2000 / Harald Raab "...eine bemerkenswert originelle Folge von Variationen über ein Thema, bestimmt von hinreißend leicht ausgeführten akrobatischen Duos und synchronen Ensembles, die vom Tanz zum Schauspiel und wieder zurück wechseln. ... abwechslungsreicher, intelligent erfundener Tanz - diese jungen Berliner könnten ihre Zuschauer länger als eine Stunde fesseln." Stuttgarter Zeitung, 26.1.2001 (about the preview "sneak") - "... These are truly exciting, imaginative, and sensitive dancers and choreographers, who create such a unique sort of theatre, that one is constantly compelled to intensive perception, and can richly watch, contemplate, associate. At the same time there's a lightness about it all, as if it were being invented on the spot. A good mixture of nations, this coming together of young artists from Germany, the USA and Israel." Sächsische Zeitung, Friday, 7th July 2000 / Gabriele Gorgas "Hooked Glimpses - … The trio places its bets on light-footed wit and playful earnestness. The theme of eye-contact is then also varied in a comical thriller-like way: … Everyday situations are driven again and again into a dance-abstraction. The breathtaking dancers of the wee dance company favour a flowing-supple style with high-standard duets, the couple quarrel is masterly-ironically cushioned too. … The trio succeeds in presenting humorous scenes and apt observations." Der Tagesspiegel, 06.08.2000 / Sandra Lucina The Power of Indicating, Is Truth on Language's Side or on the Body's Side? "... That they have a good command of toladá-choreographer Joseph Tmim's flowing, pleasurable movement style we knew already. That they want more than that in their own pieces transpires in their first long production, "Äug", in the Sophiensælen. …" Die Tageszeitung, 05./06.08.2000 / Katrin Bettina Müller To See and Feel Thoughts / Dance-piece "Äug" by the Wee Dance Company at the Rotebühltreff "… a remarkably original sequence of variations on a theme, marked by acrobatic duets and synchronous ensembles carried out with a breathtaking lightness, changing from dance to theatre and back again. Some of it appears perplexing … some oppressively convincing … dance richly diverse and intelligently devised - these young Berliners could have captivated their spectators longer than one hour. Stuttgarter Zeitung 26.1.2001 - by Bernd Krause "Blocked", "Let's Sleep On It", "Old Hat" (with the "wee dance company") Fotos "… the dance-trio 'wee dance company' repeatedly launched with its wonderfully ironic and mockingly exaggerated presentation … attacks at the audience's laugh-muscles … the company dancers … through scenes of highly expressive dancing demonstrated various possibilities to individually define the sense of life, or, rather, what would be the best way to do this." Oberhessische Presse, Saturday, 29th January 2000 / Julia Lederer "Dance Full Of Contagious Lightness and Pure Strength - The body as a well-mastered, virtuosic instrument, with which also small stories can be told … the three dancers romped across the stage with a contagious lightness, where they met playfully and cheerfully, repeatedly interrupting the flow of the dance just to pick it up again with nimbleness and agility which made the enormous physical achievement appear almost trivial. Almost becoming acrobatic, the three dropped their bodies on each other and interwove them, creating forms with always new and surprising volts." Marburger Neue Zeitung, Saturday, 29th January 2000 / Heike Döhn "… the recently founded "wee dance company" managed to leap directly to the top. Witty and original, dynamically balanced and with an idea well thought through, Dan Pelleg, Sommer Ulrickson and Marko Weigert live out their fray in little scenes. Not a dry piling-up of movements, but rather high-standard dance, easy, supple, and musical." Berliner Morgenpost, Friday, 17th September 1999 / Volkmar Draeger "Small Company Quite Grand - wee dance company excites Audience at the Glad-House [Cottbus] - It all appeared so light and playful … The dancers .. showed refreshingly dynamic and unconventional dance-theatre. After a few moments the three dancers had the audience captivated … their dancing developed an unbelievable intensity … deep symbolism emerged, but morals weren't overstated … Despite acrobatic interludes the piece still appeared to be an improvised game … A truly beautiful evening … Wee means small. What the dancers presented on Thursday evening at the Glad-House was, however, grand." Lausitzer Rundschau, 10. December 1999 / Jan Selmons "... zur Eröffnung der Tanztage im Pfefferberg ... riss die frisch gegründete Berliner Mini-Tanztruppe wee dance company das Publikum vor Begeisterung fast von den Stühlen. Mit allem Temperament, das man sich wünschen kann, mit Frechheit, Charme und schauspielerischem Talent ... kunstvoll akrobatisch und witzig ... Mit ihrer ansteckend begeisternden Inszenierung feierte die kleine Truppe ein vielversprechendes Debüt. Man kann sich glücklich schätzen, sie in der Stadt zu wissen." Der Tagesspiegel, Montag, 6. September 1999 "... Die hinreißenden Tänzer der wee dance company favorisieren einen flüssig-geschmeidigen Stil mit anspruchvollen Duetten, auch der Paarclinch wird ironisch-virtuos abgefedert. ... Dem Trio gelingen amüsante Szenen und treffende Beobachtungen." Der Tagesspiegel, 06.08.2000 aus den Kritiken im Fringe Festival, Edinburgh "plan b", "Laß uns nochmal darüber schlafen" und "Blockiert"(mit der "wee dance company") "Sich allen Etiketten und Schubladen widersetzend, die wee dance company setzt darauf, zu faszinieren und zu verwirren... Die Stimmung schwingt gewaltig zwischen Konflikt und Lösung, so dass ruckartige Glieder sich plötzlich in Einigkeit von Körper und Rhythmus verwandeln; wo sich Beine verweben und ein Rücken sich wellenartig aufbäumt. Obwohl überwiegend physischen Inhaltes, fordern die Stücke einen hohen Grad an zerebralem Engagement, in dem sie manchmal unsere Vorstellungskräfte schlängelnd ausdehnen ... eine mutige und anspruchsvolle Zusammenarbeit. Oh, und sie singen auch Madrigale." The List, 23.08.2001 "… Ein gänzlich liebreizendes Trio ... Sie haben einen Humor, der in ihre Choreographie hinein und dann wieder heraus schießt, auch wenn das Thema ernsthafte Untertöne hat ... ein erfreuliches, attraktives Programm, in dem technische Finesse, Charme und Energie gut zusammenkommen – und ihr Gesang ist wirklich ein Bonus und Genuss." The Herald, 20.08.2001 "Die wee dance company, ein Trio exzellenter "Mover" ... etliche wunderschöne Momente von Kontaktarbeit ... die Vitalität und der Humor der Performance fangen etwas vom Chaos und Gelächter des Lebens ein." The Scotsman, 21.08.2001