Steffi HENSEL

Profile

Born in 1979. Graduated from the department of Theater Studies and Cultural Communication at Humboldt University, Berlin in 2004.

Writer and Performance Artist.

Recent works:
"Bombenwetter" (text/installation, 2011, National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Kaliningrad, Russia),
"Give me your gold" (performative theater theory, 2010, DasArts, AHK, Netherlands),
"Der Sonne entgegen" (opera/libretto, 2010, Märzmusik Festival, Berliner Festspiele, Berlin),
"Little Red" (play, 2009, International Festival, Ohio, US),
"Contrabass" (libretto/music theatre, Hi-Seoul Festival, South Korea)

In 2004 Steffi's text "Arbeit, Angst, Angelika" won the writer's prize at Junge-Hunde-Festival, Theater Meiningen. In 2006 she wrote the play "Utopie unter Palmen" for the German National Theater in Weimar. Later that year "Der Sonne entgegen" was awarded with the prize for experimental music theater NRW and premiered at Musiktheater im Revier, Gelsenkirchen, Germany. In 2008 she received a travel grant to Kaliningrad, Russia, followed by residencies in Liverpool, UK and in Ohio, US.

About works / performance

I am interested in new visions for what a narrative in performance art could be. I love language and I believe in the power of rebellious narratives. To me, theater is a tool to question power structures and to make people feel like they belong to a community. I dip into theory, history and the dark side of pop culture as tools to enrich my practice. Collaboration is vital to my working process, as well, that's why I worked with a variety of different artists from musicians to dancers, drag kings to acrobats, video artists, composers and bloggers. 


Give me your gold, 2010, performance, Thomas Lenden


Give me your gold, 2010, performance, Thomas Lenden


Little Red, 2009, theater, Steffi Hensel


But I wanted a unicorn, 2009, performance, Thomas Lenden


Der Sonne entgegen, 2007, opera, Benjamin Krieg


Der Sonne entgegen, 2007, opera Benjamin Krieg