Dance Performance

Rock Bottom

Pauline Michel and Vilma Ehnberg
Two people are moving on a stage against a black background. They are kneeling close together on the floor. Due to a long exposure, their movements appear blurred. Their heads and hair seem to be moving in different directions at the same time. One person is wearing a dark top and light-colored shorts, while the other is wearing a black sleeveless top and dark shorts. The gray stage floor occupies a large portion of the image and reflects the stage lighting. The photograph conveys a strong sense of movement and the intensity of a dance performance.
© Jessica Schäfer
Two people lie intertwined in a knot on a black floor. Their legs extend upward into the air.
© Jessica Schäfer
Two people lie piled on top of one another on a black floor, wearing knee and elbow pads, with their faces turned away from the camera.
© Jessica Schäfer

Events

Wednesday
09. September 26, 20:00 Uhr
Tickets
Thursday
10. September 26, 20:00 Uhr
Tickets
Friday
11. September 26, 19:00 Uhr
Tickets

Can we transform states of heaviness into movement?

Rock Bottom is a performance that explores the potential energy of weight, in our bodies and in our overflooded minds. Against a backdrop of stress, exhaustion and exploited natural resources, the work transforms weight as a rolling stone into a shared force.

Two performers travel through a space of weariness, diving deep into their heavy heads, rocking and swaying to their beat. As tectonic plates that are crashing and folding and drifting apart, they are rolling up a hill together. Moving between Hard Rock and deserted landscapes, weight becomes a motor for movement and a source of strength.

Rock Bottom invites the audience to a place where physical sensation and poetic imagery intertwine, allowing bodies, sound and heaviness to resonate through one another.

Choreography, Performance
Pauline Michel, Vilma Ehnberg
Music
Szymon Wójcik
Funded by
Cultural Office of the City of Frankfurt am Main, Office for Multicultural Affairs, Goethe-Institut, ID_Tanzhaus Frankfurt Rhein-Main, Tanzkunst Hofheim e.V.
Supported by
Sydhavn Teater, Tårnby Park Studio
Part of
Tanz⁵
Entrance fee
Solidarity pricing — pay what you can!

English spoken language is used in the performance

 

Rock Bottom is part of Tanz⁵, a festival of the independent dance scene in Frankfurt. From September 9 to 12, 2026, new dance productions, work-in-progress performances and talks on current topics in the independent dance scene can be experienced at five venues.

The participating productions and venues:

Mo., 07.09.2026
19:30 Uhr Performance mit anschließendem Artist Talk
17:30 Uhr Warm-up-Workshop für alle Interessierten
Anno Bolender & Keiko Schmitt
Missing You.
2og dondorf, Sophienstraße 1-3, 60487 Frankfurt am Main

Wed, September 9, 20:00 – Premiere
Thu, September 10, 20:00
Fri, September 11, 19:00
Pauline Michel & Vilma Ehnberg
Rock Bottom
Produktionshaus NAXOS

Thu, September 10, 2026, 18:00
T.i.a. dance productions
Convivir / Zusammenleben : connecting artists who have experienced ableism and racism in Germany and Peru
Crespo Haus, Weißfrauenstraße 1-3, 60311 Frankfurt

Thu, September 10, 2026, 20:00 – Premiere
Fri, September 11, 2026, 20:00 – followed by a discussion
Sat, September 12, 2026, 15:00 – with childcare
Silke Wiegand (SHADEseasons)
Aspirin – das Band steht niemals still
Landungsbrücken Frankfurt, Gutleutstraße 294, 60327 Frankfurt

Sat, September 12, 2026, 17:00
ID_Tanzhaus Frankfurt Rhein-Main
Open Studio: Abschlusspräsentationen der Residenzkünstlerinnen (Santiago Mariño, Hanna Launikovich, sowie Ida Daniel und Todor Stoyanov)
Frankfurt LAB, Schmidtstr. 12, 60326 Frankfurt