The Whole Me 2
A performance about body memory, censorship, and becoming visible.
By and with Sarina Panahideh.
What does the body remember when it has had to be invisible for years? The Whole Me 2 is a performance about the traces that censorship and prohibition leave on the body – and about the attempt to free oneself from them. The Kurdish-Iranian choreographer Sarina Panahideh grew up in a place where dance was forbidden. Even after migrating, she feels a delay between what she thinks and what she can express – in language as well as in the body. The Whole Me 2 makes this internal tension visible: as a "duet in one person" between the honest, untamed self and the adapted, controlled exterior. The performance begins in almost complete invisibility – only the eyes of the performer are visible. Gradually, a vocabulary of movement unfolds from interruptions, breath rhythms, and everyday gestures: concealing, evading, adapting – repeated until they become legible motifs.
A central element is a walkable installation made of taut nylon threads, which densify the space, block paths, and force detours. The threads become both partner and obstacle – they make the incomplete, the hesitation, the interruption visible. Light and projection show blurred bodies and anonymized close-ups of skin – tangible, but not identifiable. The live music of the queer composer Andrea works with stretched words, whose meaning only gradually arrives, and with rhythms that make the back-and-forth between the internal and external audible.
The Whole Me 2 is created in collaboration with a collective of Kurdish and Iranian artists. Development partners include the Orangerie Theater Cologne, Sasha Waltz & Guests, and Dock 11 Berlin. The performance is designed for theaters, museums, and large exhibition spaces.
Note: The installation is accessible to the audience before and after the performance. Barrier-free access, subtitles, and rest areas are part of the concept.
Production: Orangerie Theater
Choreography & Concept: Sarina Panahideh | Co-Choreography: Katja Keya Richter | Dance: Narin Mohammadi, Sarina Panahideh | Composition & Live Music: Andrea (AndieSOUNDS) | Stage & Costume: N.N. | Light & Media: N.N.
Funded by: NRW Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste, NRW KULTURsekretariat, Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Entrance: 17:00
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
