Steps: Joy Alpuerto Ritter & Hannes Langolf (DE/GBR) with Sarafina Beck (CH)

What happens when two artists meet for the first time? This dance evening has the answer. What began as a risky blind date soon turned into a stroke of luck: in 2024, Akram Khan brought Joy Alpuerto Ritter and Hannes Langolf together and let them collaborate for ten days. The experiment worked: in this short time, «The Fall» was created, a piece that immediately danced its way into our hearts.

Two strangers meet in an unknown place. There are no rules, laws or concepts here. Anything goes! Together, they have the chance to build a perfect future: chaos meets order. The piece plays with this dichotomy and shows how much fragility – but also potential – there is in human fallibility.

We want to maintain this experimental character for Steps 2026: it worked, so let's do it again. For the festival, Joy Alpuerto Ritter and Hannes Langolf are adapting the existing outdoor play for the stage, inviting Swiss artist Sarafina Beck to co-create the indoor version: «The Fall» becomes The Fall/Risings.

Simply put: The piece is an exciting experiment. Two artists are working together for the first time. They didn’t know each other before. There are no rules or laws on stage. Chaos meets order. Together, they can imagine the future. The piece is being further developed for Steps. A third dancer from Switzerland joins them.

Info

Duration: 40 minutes (plus choreographic prologue)
Spoken language: yes, englisch
Age reccomendation: 10+
Content warning: Partially bright light, fog effects
World premiere: 20.7.2024, Orsolina28
Further information: hanneslangolf.com

Credits

Concept, choreography and performance: Joy Alpuerto Ritter & Hannes Langolf, with guest artist Sarafina Beck
Producer: Christine Maupetit

Developed with support of: Orsolina28
Supported by: Akram Khan Company in Partnerschaft mit Sky Arts
Special thanks to: Lukas Steltner und Akram Khan

Joy Alpuerto Ritter

Joy Alpuerto Ritter is a Berlin-based dancer and choreographer whose work is characterised by the masterful combination of diverse styles such as contemporary dance, hip hop, Filipino folk dance and voguing. Impressively versatile, she works with numerous international institutions and artists of various genres. She was already a guest at Steps in 2022 with her internationally successful solo «Babae». «The Fall / Risings»" is her first collaboration with Hannes Langolf. Picture © Merav Maroody

Hannes Langolf

Hannes Langolf is an internationally active choreographer, performer and mediator based in London. He creates award-winning pieces for his own Moonwalking Bear Productions and for renowned theatres, film productions and dance ensembles worldwide. In 2021, he created «The Fall / Risings» together with Joy Alpuerto Ritter as part of a residency at the Orsolina28 Art Foundation.

Sarafina Beck

Sarafina Beck is a Swiss dancer and choreographer. Her artistic work is characterised by a fusion of contemporary dance and street style. She is an important part of the Basel Company MEK and realises her own choreographies. For «The Fall / Risings», she will be working with Hannes Langolf and Joy Alpuerto Ritter for the first time. Picture © Oz Jacob Tabib