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Start of the 2026/27 season

«SYNTHETIC / Artefact»
Tiran Willemse

Dance

A choreographic work exploring the figure of the puppet in the history of European ballet and theatre, as well as in African and Asian dance forms. Featuring Davide-Christelle Sanvee, Élie Autin, Ophelia Young and Elisabeth Mulenga.

  • Thu 10/09 20:00

    Opening night reception

    Halle

  • Fri 11/09 20:00

    Halle

  • Mon 14/09 20:00

    Halle

  • Tue 15/09 20:00

    Halle

Willemses presents his first group choreography featuring Davide-Christelle Sanvee, Élie Autin, Ophelia Young and Elizabeth Mulenga. Copyright: Tiran Willemse. Copyright: Tiran Willemse
  • Not language-based

SYNTHETIC / Artefact Performance in 2 Acts’ takes place a long time ago, in a far future. Its landscapes are as sumptuous as devastated. Among them: dolls. Across cultures and centuries, they have always been made to be looked at, still. The piece begins when they start to move. Can they dance? Between realism and artificiality, archive and speculation, this piece holds the beauty of bodies refusing to be seen as objects.

Accessibility and practical information

  • Step-free access

  • Language: The play is not language-based and contains very little spoken French. The text is available in printed form in German and English.

  • As the production is still being rehearsed, more information on the accessibility of the show will be released closer to the premiere date.

  • For sold-out performances, we reserve a small number of accessible seats (wheelchair spaces and beanbags). We kindly ask that anyone requiring accessibility support contact kasse@gessnerallee.ch

  • Concept, Choreography & Performance
    Tiran Willemse
    Ensemble:
    Davide-Christelle Sanvee, Élie Autin, Ophelia Young, Elizabeth Mulenga
    Sound:
    Tobias Koch
    Dramaturgy:
    Andros Zins-Browne
    Choreographic Advice:
    Laurent Chétouane
    Light Design:
    Ryoya Fudetani
    Light Technician:
    Max Windisch-Spoerk
    Styling Consultant:
    Alice Lushima
    Text:
    Theo Casciani
    Production:
    Kelly Tuke
    In Co-production with:
    Gessnerallee Zürich, Arsenic Lausanne, Kaserne Basel, Pavillon ADC Geneva

    A co-production within the framework of the event fund of Reso – Tanznetzwerk Schweiz. Supported by Pro Helvetia and the cantons.

  • Tiran Willemse is an interdisciplinary collaborative artist working in the field of dance, theater, video and performance with Trajal Harrell, Jerome Bel, Ligia Lewis, Wu-Tsang (moved by the motion), Deborah Hay, Eszter Salamon, Meg Stuart and Andros Zins-Browne. Willemse's practice centers on the interrogation of presence and absence in the performance of identity, he endeavors to foster new desires in the imagination through a visceral experience. His work has been presented by Palais de Tokyo Paris, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts Lausanne Museum Macro Rome, Impulstanz Wien, Santarcangelo Festival Italy, Kunsthaus Baselland, Tanzquartier Wien, Swiss Institute New York and Arsenic Lausanne. Willemse won the swiss performance prize 2023 and lives and works in Zurich.

    Davide-Christelle Sanvee (1993, Switzerland / Togo) is a performance artist who focuses on spaces and staging. Investigating invisibility of individuals in public space, she hunts for architectural, behavioural and gestural elements to create scenographies that fully surround her spectators.  In order to activate these new spaces Sanvee uses historical, collective memory and performative actions built around political and social realities.  After a bachelor's degree in visuals arts at HEAD - Geneva (2016), she obtained her master's degree at the Sandberg Institut in Amsterdam (2019). She is the winner of the Swiss performance Award 2019 with her performance ‘Le ich dans nicht’. In 2022, she joined Rébecca Chaillon's ‘Carte Noire named desire’ as a performer. In 2023, she received the Kiefer Hablitzer Art Prize at the Swiss Arts Awards at Art Basel. That same year, she was awarded a grant from the Leenaards Foundation. In 2025, she received the Swiss Performing Arts Award for her career achievements.

    Élie Autin is a multidisciplinary artist who works across several artistic media: choreography, performance and the visual arts. Her first solo, ‘Présage’, premiered at the Arsenic in autumn 2022. In it, her fluid identities play directly off the audience’s gaze. As a performer and dancer, Élie works with a number of artists, including Tamara Alegre, caner teker, Tiran Willemse, Volmir Cordeiro, Marvin Mtoumo, the Ouinch Ouinch collective, Natasza Gerlach and other artists… 2023 she received the price ‘Prix de la relève’ (Fondation vaudoise pour la culture). 2026 for the Swiss Art Awards she wone the price of the Kiefer Hablitzel Göhner Art Prize. As a model and photo model, she regularly performs and poses for various artists and brands, including Dior for DAZED. In parallel, the artist is also developing her visual work, with exhibitions at Circuit (Lausanne), Amore (Basel) Hamlet (Zurich) and La rada (Locarno), WallStreet (Fribourg) MCBA (Lausanne) Like little disaster (Polignano a mare), La Becque (La Tour de Peilz) and other venues.


    Ophelia Young (she/her) works as a dancer and dance maker in the performing arts.
    She has been studying at Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany and was working in institutions such as Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and Ballett Basel. For many years she has also been working in freelance project-based collaborations in dance, choreography, dance schools, performing and visual arts and film. She is teaching, performing and creating in different collaborations in Switzerland and abroad.
    Ophelia is based in Basel. She was born in New York City (USA) and grew up in Upper Austria. 

    Elisabeth Mulenga, a Sadler’s Wells Young Associate alumni, is a London-based choreographer and dancer creating provocative, autobiographical work examining themes around grief, dysfunctional intimacy, and hauntology. Influenced by her Pentecostal Christian upbringing, her practice embraces supernaturalism, ritual, and the sensation of constant surveillance. Her recent work, ‘Christ Alone’, premiered at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in 2024 before being restaged at the Royal Opera House in 2025. In 2022, she won the Choreographic Innovation Award at the BBC Young Dancer Grand Final. She has performed solos at venues such as The Roundhouse, The Place Theatre, and Cafe Oto. Elisabeth works across contemporary dance, commercial and performance art contexts. Her performance work for other artists & companies includes:  Holly Blakey, Miles Greenberg, Marina Abramović Institute, Alison Goldfrapp , Clod Ensemble,  Miley Cyrus x Lost City Immersive, Pepa Ubera, Magnus Westwell, Tiran Willemse, Ryan Heffington, Wolf Alice, Robyn, Yann Tiersen, Sampha, Harry Price, Later with Jools Holland, Boston Gallacher, Dickson MBI, Lewis Walker, Ivan Michael Blackstock and Russell Maliphant.

  • Stadt Zürich, Kanton Zürich, Pro Helvetia, Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung

Tiran Willemse is an interdisciplinary artist who explores presence and absence in the construction of identity. Copyright: Tiran Willemse

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