Ballett

Although inspired by Vienna and based on Strauss‘ waltz An der schönen blauen Donau, Christina Kubisch‘s 1979 work Ballett has never been performed in Vienna before. Ballett not only marked the beginning of her career as a sound artist, but also a break with a male-dominated tradition: women were allowed to interpret, but hardly ever to compose. The work also shows how closely body, sound and gender are interwoven - and that music and gender cannot always be clearly separated.

The originally planned premiere in Venice was canceled at short notice - the content was too sensitive! Instead of the Palazzo Grassi, the actual premiere did not take place until 2015, decades later, in the Berlin gallery and record store Rumpsti Rumpsti. A second, more official performance followed in 2016 at the Kunstmuseum Chemnitz
- accompanied by protests. Funny that vibrators are still not welcome in a museum, commented Christina Kubisch.

OCT.opus 25

The team of artists that go by the name of God’s Entertainment will be depositing a huge octopus replica in the pond near the Karlsplatz to offer us a new interpretation of Strauss’ waltzes.

This artistic ersatz for an octopus, representing an intriguing symbiosis between Strauss and cultural studies expert Donna Haraway, is designed to give us a completely new perspective on the waltz as such, with lively and provocative interpretations opening up unprecedented emotional and intellectual vistas on the music of Johann Strauss. With the help of an array of supporting artists, Strauss himself will conducting OCT.opus 25 and dancing to his own music. On five weekends, the project will be electrifying its audiences with humour, temperament, concerts, performances and dinners.