The Köln Concert

A dance piece set to the most famous piano solo of all time – Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert. The dance company recently founded by Trajal Harrell at the Schauspielhaus Zürich takes to the stage to the rhythm of this music. But before the Köln Concert sounds, you’ll first hear four songs by another artist: Canadian musician Joni Mitchell. She opens the show, setting the scene for Keith Jarrett’s music and the dance company. The piece seeks a language that allows closeness despite times of social distancing and estrangement. The shared experience of tender people, of performers showing their vulnerability on stage, evokes the need to remain close to each other despite everything, to have respect for ourselves but also for others, to remember that there are many stories of people rarely seen or heard. People who have been pushed into the shadows, the lonely, the addicted, the abandoned, the homeless, the sad, who proudly defy their abandonment. During The Köln Concert, the stage belongs to them.