An intriguing choreography of bodies, objects and set, Constructions of Thin Air asks questions and provokes thoughts on the changing nature of home, identity and the systems we are embedded in.

Created with an international cast of nine dancers, ranging in age from early 20s to 60s, the piece unfolds in two acts:

Act 1 zooms in on an absurd system. It is a metaphor for any system – whether political, social, economical – that we belong to, depend on, struggle with or reject. The individual is reduced to a cog in a complex machinery that breaks down, leaving us in an ambiguous landscape between old and new, remnants and re-inventions, departures and arrivals.

In contrast, Act 2 is intimate and fragile – a reflection on the permanent de- and reconstruction of human relationships and existences. It lays bare the power of memories and their loss, as well as the inevitability of change.

Running time: 80 minutes including an interval.

“Constructions of Thin Air is a delicately structured work. Each act could theoretically stand alone but, shown together, they resonate profoundly together… a piece that is both powerful and poignant.” 

Rachel Elderkin, Exeunt Magazine

“The choreographic language and detail of the theatre have always made Maresa’s work stand out. It’s dance that communicates through the body and mind. “ 

Eddie Nixon, Director, The Place Theatre

“Von Stockert fabricates choreographic material as inventively as she does material objects. Interweaving metaphor and motion which convey subtle shades of meaning, her work avoids stagnation or sentimentality with its down to earth practicality and strong physical presences. Constructions of Thin Air evocatively suggests our relationship with the past, our own histories, memories and how we make sense of change.” 

Josephine Leask, Dancetabs

Constructions of Thin Air is Maresa von Stockert’s latest stage piece and evolved from her internationally acclaimed site-responsive promenade piece BELONGING(s) that toured Europe from 2015-17.

An intriguing choreography of bodies, objects and set, Constructions of Thin Air asks questions and provokes thoughts on the changing nature of home, identity and the systems we are embedded in.

Created with an international cast of nine dancers, ranging in age from early 20s to 60s, the piece unfolds in two acts:

Act 1 zooms in on an absurd system. It is a metaphor for any system – whether political, social, economical – that we belong to, depend on, struggle with or reject. The individual is reduced to a cog in a complex machinery that breaks down, leaving us in an ambiguous landscape between old and new, remnants and re-inventions, departures and arrivals.

In contrast, Act 2 is intimate and fragile – a reflection on the permanent de- and reconstruction of human relationships and existences. It lays bare the power of memories and their loss, as well as the inevitability of change.

Running time: 80 minutes including an interval.

“Constructions of Thin Air is a delicately structured work. Each act could theoretically stand alone but, shown together, they resonate profoundly together… a piece that is both powerful and poignant.” 

Rachel Elderkin, Exeunt Magazine

“The choreographic language and detail of the theatre have always made Maresa’s work stand out. It’s dance that communicates through the body and mind. “ 

Eddie Nixon, Director, The Place Theatre

“Von Stockert fabricates choreographic material as inventively as she does material objects. Interweaving metaphor and motion which convey subtle shades of meaning, her work avoids stagnation or sentimentality with its down to earth practicality and strong physical presences. Constructions of Thin Air evocatively suggests our relationship with the past, our own histories, memories and how we make sense of change.” 

Josephine Leask, Dancetabs

Masquerade

Imagine a place where thoughts are overheard and dreams are monitored; where intimate letters get scanned and a warped sense of reality rules over reason. In our surveillance-obsessed times, TrAPPED explores notions of personal freedom.

Unfolding like a film, TrAPPED tells the stories of five characters in a Kafkaesque landscape.

Subtly, a commentary emerges on the CCTV-laden world of today and the bygone era of the German Democratic Republic.

A tragicomic world, both poetic and dark, is evoked through original music, spoken word, contemporary dance and object manipulation.

Previewed at the Mercury Theatre Colchester and the New Wolsey Ipswich, before touring in Spring and Autumn 2009 to theatres including: LABAN, London; Riley Theatre, Leeds; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh; Merlin Theatre, Frome; Lakeside Theatre, Nottingham; Lincoln Arts Centre; ARC Stockton-on-Tees; The Junction, Cambridge; The Place, London. And nine days of consecutive performances at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Running time: 75 minutes

“Von Stockert creates a wonderful atmosphere of menace, highlighting the absurdity of the world she invents… A true original.”

Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, August 2009

“A brilliantly physical political satire… Combining verse and dialogue with an intriguing soundscape…a clever, witty, politically provocative piece.”

Yorkshire Post, October 2009

“This is the type of contemporary dance that you can’t take your eyes off.”

Three Weeks Edinburgh Festival 2009

Combining text, movement, sound and set, Glacier provokes thoughts on humanity’s paradoxical struggles with, for and against nature.

Moving on black oily surfaces and porous white textures, the dancers enter into a delicate symbiosis with the set on stage. Materials and bodies inspire and manipulate one another. The shiny slippery stage reflects and distorts the crumbling white landscape and those moving along its edges.

Running time: 75 minutes

“One of the most intriguing talents in British dance theatre.”

Keith Watson, Metro, 2008

“What amazes as always is the stunning visual effect of von Stockert and her cast’s wit and imagination… it makes audiences think.”

Mary Redman, The Stage, January 2008

“It’s a tribute to Maresa von Stockert’s imagination that she squeezes so many issues into her latest work Glacier… the material has been layered like a nesting box of images, each one cunningly springing open the next…”

Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, January 2008

“In her choreography von Stockert is often drawn to the rhythmic manipulation of props, … In Glacier she takes on polystyrene, converting oblong slabs and curving shards of the stuff into ice floes or, more abstractly, objects that symbolise experimentation, obstruction, fragility or waste.”

Donald Hutera, The Times, January 2008

Six performers lay bare what others try to conceal: human imperfections, vulnerabilities and longings.

In Marjorie’s World Unhinged, von Stockert marries dance and spoken word, pre-recorded film and projected live camera work, intricate props and a moving set.

On stage and on screen the stories of six very different characters entwine, each of them looking for their own way of escaping reality. Characters ranging from aging ballerinas to factory workers are brought to life by Tilted’s multigenerational company.

UK Tour Sept 2006 – March 2007. Mercury Theatre, Colchester; The Junction, Cambridge; Bowen, West Bedford; Gardner Arts Centre, Brighton; Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham; Miskin Theatre, Dartford; DanceCity, Newcastle; LABAN, London; New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Dartington Arts, Totnes; Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea; DanceXchange, Birmingham; The Lowry, Salford; Dundee Rep; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh; Merlin Theatre, Frome; Queen Elisabeth Hall, London; The Point, Eastleigh; Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe; ShowRoom, Chichester; Worcester Swan; LEAP Festival, Liverpool; Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon.

Running time: 115 minutes (including interval)

“Speech in dance theatre is hard to pull off. Von Stockert’s scripts are witty and well-focused… there’s something distinctive about von Stockert’s work, an individual outlook, its own particular atmosphere.”

Zoe Anderson, The Independent, November 2006

“This marvelous blend of dance and theatre, for seven performers, film and mechanical furry dog, is closely, hilariously, observed, and touchingly aware of the sorrows of existence.” 

Robert Beale, Manchester Evening News, January 2006

Letting the audience revisit long forgotten, dark corners of the memory,

More Grim[m] Desires exposes five well-known fairy tales and their underbelly of deeply rooted human instincts, fears and desires.

An adapted stage version of the site-specific Grim[m] Desires (link) that toured to theatres from February to May 2005.

Running time: 90 minutes (including 15 minute interval)

“Von Stockert has a deliciously skewed way of looking at the world, changing bedtime stories into vignettes of wit and brutality”’

Kelly Apter, The Scotsman, 19 April 2005

“There are so many amazing visual moments, such witty props and humorous touches, that it’s easy to take the choreography for granted. It is full of marvelous invention, mostly frisky and physically daring, but also sensual and surprisingly poignant.”

Mary Brennan, The Herald, 18 April 2005

“It deals with themes such as jealousy, fidelity, betrayal and envy… In other moments you’ll see women pick up their male companions up as if they were infants, made of thin air, switching from subversive to submissive characters throughout… a contemporary, fresh, enigmatic piece of dance for the stage!”

Holly Graham, Scottish Theatre Web, April 2005

“The prospect of an evening of fairy stories wasn’t enthralling, but that was before I knew about Maresa von Stockert, whose More Grim[m] Desires is a touring version of the site-specific show that was last year’s hit at Wapping Hydraulic Power Station…The very best thing about Stockert’s take on the fairy tales is that she renders them newly intriguing without distorting a detail in the telling.”

Jenny Gilbert, The Independent, 27 March 2005

Nightmares in Black & Green or An Unromantic Romance is a tragicomic account of everyday life eating its way into a relationship, followed by a chain reaction of unhappy circumstances that finally swallow love’s left-overs.

The stage piece toured theatres in the UK and internationally from October 2003 – May 2004

Running time: 25 minutes

“A second fun piece was Maresa von Stockert’s “Nightmares in Black and Green”. Afterwards I was amazed to realise that it lasted as long as 25 minutes, so packed is it with good jokes and intriguing movement. Constructing a story around suburban life, apples, a failed relationship and a blow-up sex doll is tough enough, but von Stockert combines this heady mix with a voice-over narrative, often a kiss-of-death for dance, and makes it all work. Roberta Pitrè’s solo on top of a kitchen table is full of invention and Antoine Vereecken’s duet with the doll is beautiful rather than merely comic.”

Stuart Sweeney, Ballet-Dance Magazine, March 2004

“The work … features two dancers (Francisco Monteagudo and Roberta Pitre) performing with a table, some roses, a blow up doll, lot’s of apples and the funniest dead pan spoken text you have ever heard (spoken by Russell Raisey). …”

Article 19, 2004

Beyond the Seven Seas

Like Nobody’s Business