DOOM is a durational performance taking the form of a drone/doom-metal concert within an ever-shifting environment of moving hair – and bodies. DOOM is an accumulation of grievances and a mapping of these grievances into an entanglement of snarls. DOOM is the foreboding of sounds shaking us, creating an obligation to imagine, to check, to envisage the connections between what we are in the habit of keeping separate. Even as apocalypses bloom around us, we dance non-stop and launch into a doom-metal concert, howling our approach to the end of the world — a collective grieving and celebration in the face of oncoming doom. We see, feel, and hear the slow changes of an ending world, and yet we propose a non-fatalistic way of attending to each other with care, imagining alternatives to the end-of-days scenario.
LAYTON LACHMAN creates performances rooted in somatics and directs these experiences into immersive, sensory complex worlds. Layton is committed to a dance practice that focuses on group studies, the expansion of “The Commons” and collective authorship – with the understanding that we always work with the people who come before, after and with us. After earning a BFA in choreography from the University of Ohio, Layton moved to San Francisco and has worked with Abby Crain, Mara Poliak, Margit Galanter, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Sara Shelton Mann and SALTA, among others. In Berlin, Layton worked mainly with the T.E.N.T. collective. Layton set up a research studio, organized events, parties and shows in Berlin, Dresden, Stockholm and on free farmlands. laytonlachman.com
SAMUEL HERTZ is a composer/researcher specialized in sound and climate. Previous performances on infrasound, acoustic ecology and radiophonic lunar transmission have been presented at venues such as the Palais de Tokyo (FR), Fylkingen (SE), Pioneer Works (US), Opera North (UK) and the National Science + Media Museum (UK). Hertz has written seven essays on sound and the environment, and his research is currently underway as part of the School of Infinite Rehearsals/Onassis Future Initiative. samhertzsound.com
Concept Layton Lachman & Samuel Hertz Created and Performed with emeka ene & Caroline Neill Alexander Choreography, Direction Layton Lachman Original Composition Samuel Hertz Costumes Ivanka Tramp Dramaturgy Maxi Wallenhorst Graphic Design Max Puorro Special Thanks Thea Reifler, Anna Fitoussi, Johannes Paul Raether, Cajsa Godée, Abby Crain & Mara Poliak, Ethan Folk, Flutgraben Performances, Ponderosa e.V.
A production by Layton Lachman/Samuel Hertz in co-production with SOPHIENSÆLE. The 30th edition of Tanztage Berlin is a production of SOPHIENSÆLE. Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe. This production was also made possible with the generous support of DIS-TANZEN and Musikfonds e.V. DOOM exists in the afterglow of the amazing work and legacy of Kathleen Hermesdorf (1967-2020) & Mariana Nobre Vieira (1989-2020). Media partner: taz. die tageszeitung