We like China and China likes us

The global relations of power are being reorganised. China might soon take over America’s role as the leading economic power. Where do pupils in Kreuzberg find themselves on this world map? How do they react to political changes? The festival We like China and China likes us shows three dance projects and performances. The artist Ibrahim Quraishi, the choreographer Jeremy Wade and the actress Sylvia Habermann worked together with pupils from the Hector-Peterson-School and now show the results.

As a starting point for the research, the young people took Joseph Beuys’ “I like America and America likes me” from 1974. Guided by Eike Wittrock, the pupils spent the past two years becoming familiar with dance theory and appeared several times in Houseclub projects. The piece Where I end and you beginwas developed by Jeremy Wade in collaboration with two young performers, the visual artist Hannah Dougherty and the musician Tian Rotteveel. The result is an acrid comedy on the subject of globalisation. What is the language of our time? Chinese, Turkish, the local German street language? Or is it the secret forms of understanding that develop between two best friends? In Tame the resisting rest of me, together with a group of school children, Sylvia Habermann deals with the taming of a creature. What do you need to “pull out its teeth”? The piece was created in close cooperation with the choreographer Melati Suryodarmo, the musician & singer Toni Kater and the musician Paul Lemp. Together with the artist Diego Agulló, the performer Lan Hungh and the musicians Alan Abrahams (aka Portable) and Norscq, Ibrahim Quraishi developed an interactive installation. Don’t call me Mao, call me Miau-Miau shows portraits of pupils and their surroundings. Stories are discovered that could not actually be true, and yet they do have a spark of truth to them. Video presentations, lecture performances, a photo exhibition, an edible installation, a big party, and other events from the Houseclub round out the programme.

The Houseclub at HAU is an interdisciplinary experiment, designed as a residency programme for artists and as a school project. In the past two years, pupils from secondary schools in Kreuzberg have worked in collaboration with selected choreographers, directors and dancers on contemporary dance, theatre and performance, developing into experts along the way. The pupils are not simply “onlookers” but are an active part of the artistic process.