UNUSUALBEINGS was founded in 2022 by the choreographer Corinne Eckenstein and is an internationally operating company based in Vienna.
We are a mixed abled company of artists of different dance styles and ages. Diversity is a core value of our company, which aims to give visability to different forms of expression.
The dancers in the production are at the centre of the choreographic work. Based on their different movement qualities, we create synergies and movement material, that gives our performances an unusual expression that characterises both the personality of the dancers and the choreography itself. The focus lays always on the body as the narrator of its own story, enabling new perspectives and unusual connections, both with each other and with the audience. It is not about the "perfect" body, but about how each and every individual can understand and experience their own physicality.
An important element is always the space and the confrontation with the stage set. We love the physical challenge and crossing physical boundaries.
In our productions for young audiences in particular, we seek a language that is both emotional and abstract and can be understood by younger viewers.
We tell stories of pain, grief and joy and celebrate life in its contradictory and diverse ways.
TEAM
Corinne Eckenstein artistic director, choreographer
Born 1963 in Basel. Staged and choreographed in Basel, Zurich, Berlin, Hanover and Vienna. In 1992, together with the writer and director Lilly Axster, she founded the queerfeminist group TheaterFOXFIRE, whose productions (46 in total) and world premieres have enjoyed great success with audiences and the press. With TheaterFOXFIRE, she was an important artistic pillar and source of inspiration for the Dschungel Wien Theaterhaus for Young Audiences, founded in 2004, from the very beginning and has staged over 25 productions there. In 2016, Eckenstein took over as artistic director of Dschungel Wien. With her focus on arts education, diversity and transcultural projects, she addresses key requirements of an urban theater for young audiences. Her special talent lies in creating synergies with the most diverse people and artists. To enable as many children and young people as possible to access and participate in art and culture, she imitated cultural sponsorship in 2016. 2021-2023 she founded the SKIN Performance Festival for young adults on diversity, sex + gender, queerness + feminisms.
In 2022, she was awarded the Stella Special Award for Young Audiences for her artistic and cultural contributions. In December 2022, Eckenstein received one of the highest honors: The Cross of Honor of the Republic of Austria for Science and Arts.
2023 Corinne founded the TANZHAUS BASEL for contemporary and urban dance.
Joseph Tebandeke
Choreographer, Dancer
Born in 1993 in Kampala, Uganda. Due to a polio infection in his childhood, he lost the ability to walk. He learned to move on crutches and followed his dream to become a dancer. He has a training in inclusive dance teaching "Developing and confidence" (Candoco Dance Company) and a certificate in inclusive dance workshops for children with and without disabilities from Helen Burningham /Splash Dance Company (Kampala). He worked as a disabled dancer in different projects in Uganda, Mali and Rwanda. He is part of the "Splash Dance Company, Kampala" and "Dance Revolution East Africa".
„My work is energetic and stretches beyond the limits of your mind and what you first perceive on disability, intuitively and with integrity creating art that is authentic in areas which are hard to speak about with words and inner conviction, I use my colonial body to create my own dictionary, language theorizing the black disabled body through physical practice for the surroundings.” Joseph Tebandeke
Born in Amsterdam in 1988. Maartje holds a BA in contemporary dance from Amsterdam University of the Arts (2010) and was a danceWEB scholarship recipient for the ImPulsTanz festival. Maartje has performed in countless pieces for young audiences that have taken her all over the world, including Ubumuntu Festival (RW), ASSITEJ Festival (KOR), Tweetakt (NL), SWOP (DEN). She received the STELLA14 performing arts award for "outstanding performer" and danced in "Roses" (Wies Merkx) and "Couple Like#2" (Keren Levi &Ugo Dehaes), both awarded "best outstanding performance for young audience". In 2021/2022 Maartje collaborated with Florentina Holzinger/Volksbühne Berlin (DE), Joachim Schloemer/ Dschungel Wien (AT)- TanzKomplizen (DE), De Dansers (NL), Holland Opera (NL) and UNUSUAL BEINGS dance company among others.
Futurelove Sibanda Dancer, Singer
Born in Nyamandlovu (Zimbabwe) and gained valuable experience on stage at a young age. For years he was a member of the vibrant dance group IYASA, with whom he toured internationally with great success. After studying dance at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität, he worked as an actor and dancer in numerous dance and theater productions, especially at the Dschungel Wien -
and UNUSUAL BEINGS dance company. "Käptn Future", "How To Get Famous", "Sand", "Boys don't cry", "Afrikanische Märchen", "China K.", "KINGX & QWEENS as well as in different theaters "Traiskirchen das Musical", "Show Boat" and "Ein Käfig voller Narren". He also has numerous vocal performances as a soloist and with the acappella group Insingizi, World of Hans Zimmer, Best of Hollywood. The musicians Willi Resetarits, Opus and Hans Theessink complement his artistic expertise and have taken him to France, Liechtenstein, Germany, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Japan, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and the USA.
TRAILER of Corinne´s Work >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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