Built to Last

In Built to Last, Meg Stuart confronts five performers with overwhelming classical and contemporary music. Almost each one of these compositions has influenced music history in a significant way, both on the level of technique and content. These works represent important changes in mankind‘s relation towards ideals and utopias, and the vulnerable instability of humanity. The dancers and actors act and react driven by the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ludwig von Beethoven, Iannis Xenakis, Meredith Monk and  Arnold Schoenberg, among others. As if being carried away by a time-machine, they are forced to deal with constantly changing situations and states of consciousness. The journey made on stage can’t be described in any logical way. Nevertheless, the encounter of the performers with the music gradually exposes a glimpse of the „condition humaine“ or a trace of man‘s secret desires.

Meg Stuart : "The expression 'buit to
last' betrays a believe in eternal values, heroism and universality. How
can we cope today with the expression of such self-confidence? We feel
the urge to continue reinventing ourselves. We have to move forward.
Many things are designed to break after a short time. There is also the
sense of an approaching end. Everyone is privately preparing for it. It
is sad, but that's the way it is. Maybe Built to Last is about how, in
the light of eternity, we can practice taking our leave."