Manuel Pelmuș and Frédéric Gies revisit Kurt Jooss’s seminal antiwar ballet »The Green Table« (1932) on the futility of diplomacy in the face of fascism and war. Their tribute—performed as a solo by Gies in reference to Jooss’s original concept—enters into a critical dialogue with the piece, engaging with its choreographic vocabulary and political urgency. The tradition of the danse macabre, where Death dances with members of all classes, plays a central role in this. Pelmuș and Gies address today’s fractured global order, where peace negotiations often serve as performances of control rather than paths to resolution.

Manuel Pelmuş (1974, Bucharest, Romania) is a choreographer and artist who reimagines performance in the context of the visual arts. He uses continuous live presence, enactment, and the human body to explore memory and the construction of history. His work has been presented at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; MUNCH, Oslo; Tate Modern, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; TanzQuartier, Vienna; and Tanz im August, Berlin, among others. In 2013, Pelmuş represented Romania at the 55th Venice Biennale with Alexandra Pirici. He lives in Oslo.

Frédéric Gies (1973, Sarrebourg, France) is a dancer and choreographer as well as the artistic director of DANCE IS ANCIENT. As a dancer, Gies has worked with choreographers such as Cristina Caprioli, Alice Chauchat, Jefta van Dinther, Jean-François Duroure, Olivia Grandville, Daniel Larrieu, and Isabelle Schad. Gies’s own pieces oscillate between clockwork composition and the chaos generated by dancing bodies surrendering to desires and forces. They have been shown at Dansens Hus, Stockholm; ImPulsTanz, Vienna; CTM Festival, Berlin; Sophiensæle, Berlin; and Roskilde Festival, among others. Gies lives in Malmö.

Concept and choreography: Manuel Pelmuș and Frédéric Gies
Performance: Frédéric Gies
Costumes: Grzegorz Matląg
Music: Fiedel
Lighting design: Thomas Zamolo

18 + 19 September 2025, 20:30
Helmut List Halle
Waagner-Biro-Straße 98a
8020 Graz

Header image: Manuel Pelmuș and Frédéric Gies, Tribute to Kurt Jooss’s »Green Table« (2025), Dance performance, Photo: Thomas Zamolo