Lehmen lernt

How does one learn to walk, read, dance, make love…?

The Kaaitheater has for several seasons been keeping track of the work of the German choreographer-researcher Thomas Lehmen. In Stationen, for instance, he brought people of various professions together round a table. In their discussions they looked at the systems on which their professional practice was based, and which underlying structures they employed in their everyday occupations. In Schreibstück he gave three choreographers a score he had written out by hand. The three versions of the same ‘text’ that emerged from it were then performed simultaneously by several dancers. It brought to the surface a variety of questions about authorship, the nature of repetition, and identity.

In his new project, Lehmen lernt, the choreographer is after a long absence again appearing on stage himself. As the title indicates, Lehmen is here concentrating on the way he is able to learn things. He draws up an inventory of what he has already mastered, what he is currently learning, and what he would like to be able to do one day. How does one learn to walk, read, dance, make love…? What is the general and/or personal significance of the acquisition of these skills? Are they a reference to a core that is the same for everybody? A core that consequently unites us? How can we pass on skills and insights to others? The last position in the list of all the things we have to learn during our lives is occupied by dying. But at that moment we do not have the time to still communicate this ‘experience’ to others.