Demeter, Persephone and Hades are the three central figures who will perform the “Human Requiem” choreographed by Sasha Waltz and directed by Jochen Zadich at the archaeological site of Eleusis from 30.09 to 01.10. The performance is based on the well-known work “German Requiem” by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) and is presented in the context of Elefsina Cultural Capital of Europe.

“The Human Requiem” directed by Jochen Zadich it is not unknown to the Athenian public since it was presented at the Megaro Musikis in 2016. However, neither is Eleusis unknown to the two great German artists, who have been visiting it since 2014. The idea to present the work at the Archaeological Site existed many years before the this small town is chosen as European Capital of Culture, says Jochen Zadich in an exclusive interview with Deutsche Welle a few days before the premiere. He points out that he loves this unrecognized city near Athens and that he contributed as much as he could to be chosen European Capital of Culture. “From the first moment I knew that the work of Brahms and Eleusis are connected. The Archaeological Site did not create any difficulties for us. The opposite. The acoustics of course and the weather conditions are a challenge».

30 years this year since the founding of the group Sasha Waltz & Guests

Together with Sasha Waltz, the greatest contemporary German choreographer, with whom he founded the group Sasha Waltz & Guests in 1993, Zadich tours the Archaeological Area: the Small and Great Propylaia, the Plutonium, the Telestirion. They discuss, stop, think, talk with the artistic director of the Cultural Capital, Michael Marmarinos. The “Human Requiem” is the 14th Sacrament in the long list of Sacraments listed in the program of events for the year. Sasha Waltz expresses her gratitude for her participation and reveals that she has made a special choreography for the space and the three dancers who will embody Demeter, Persephone and Hades “and then there is the choir and the music, which, in a way tina, walks on the Christian path, but it is also a way of dealing with the issue from a Christian perspective. But it is basically about death. We know that the fable deals with exactly the same themes. And so it’s kind of like a blending of those two ideas.”

The team Sasha Waltz & Guests celebrates this year its 30th anniversary with performances in Germany and abroad. The temptation is great to open the discussion to issues that do not only concern the show in Elefsina. As for example in the use of artificial intelligence in the arts. A space that they greatly appreciate will receive the biggest blows by eliminating jobs and creation. “I have to say,” Waltz answers us, “that I’m not afraid because in the pandemic we thought we could meet, do everything digitally, watch movies where the protagonists might not be real actors but virtual figures or something like that . But I think the experience of a theater performance, an opera, a dance performance cannot be compared to anything else. And this moment of meeting between the audience and the performers, is so precious. For me it is a spiritual experience. I believe no one can compete with that.”

What will be considered a success in Elefsina?

To our question if within these thirty years she has fulfilled her professional dreams, she replied that “both the team and herself have really achieved a lot”. Politics and social issues, such as immigration, but also the role of artists in political and social development, are the issues that most interest her at this time. He would like to work with children and teenagers as well as with the sick because it has been proven, as he says, that dance contributes significantly to the healing of certain diseases.

But how is a piece born? What is it that piques her interest and what is the process by which she works? “At the beginning of a process there’s usually a question or something that I’m very concerned about at a certain time, and then I try to find themes or pieces of music, I ask composers if they can write something. The process is a very collaborative process with the dancers, with the composers, the musicians, the singers, depending on how a piece is structured. It takes up to three years before a project is actually created. I like to have long periods of work to experiment, to research, to reject things too. There is a workshop character and that is important in my creation.”

The two artists must return to their rehearsals. Jochen Zadich wants to thank all those people in Greece who helped to make this lifelong dream come true. Finally, to our question what he would consider a success in Eleusis, he answers that “if the life of even one spectator changed, as it is said to have happened at the time of the Eleusinian Mysteries with the mystics, I would be satisfied”.