by Mia Butter // Jan. 14, 2025
“A white, short person with brown short hair” is how Leo Naomi Baur—who is standing on a chair, addressing their audience at Sophiensaele—introduces themselves minutes before their performance is set to begin. ‘The Disempowered’ takes place during the 34th edition of Tanztage Berlin, an annual presentation of contemporary dance and workshops. This year’s program hones in on body politics, as well as burnout, with Baur’s piece tackling the elusive and unpredictable nature of the sick body.
Leo Naomi Baur: ‘The Disempowered,’ 2025, installation view // Copyright Mayra Wallraff
‘The Disempowered’ is a 70-minute-long, relaxed performance, a format that aims to loosen the traditional theater experience. Relaxed performances are ultimately designed to accommodate the audience’s needs, creating an unfamiliar new set of codes for those accustomed to a conventional performance setting. Accommodations range from reduced strobe lighting, no sudden noises and avoiding total darkness during the show, while allowing audience members to spontaneously take breaks. Other amenities include a “relaxed room,” with the option to recede from the performance. Baur clearly addresses this before the piece begins, inviting audience members to move around the space, make noise and leave as they please. Behind a curtain, Baur offers an “even more relaxed room” with tea and stim toys. Based on the Aesthetics of Access—the idea that accessibility is intrinsically linked to the visual vocabulary of a work—Baur’s installation seeks to remove many of the most common barriers found in art viewing spaces. The work is created accessibly, rather than adapted to be accessible. As we file into the space, each visitor is handed a printed script of the audio, and a pair of headphones with a volume dial. Again, we’re invited to customize the experience further–remove the headphones altogether, or scrap the script if enticed to do so.
Leo Naomi Baur: ‘The Disempowered,’ 2025, installation view // Copyright Mayra Wallraff
The room fills quickly, and the bean bags strewn across the floor are the first to be occupied. Chairs line the walls and square bench formations are draped with blankets to be used. We all claim a space, headphone-clad, as we listen to an ambient composition, some low cello tones. There are no dancers, there is no stage, but the room is populated with tall structures composed of metal tubing and thin, translucent white fabric. Some audience members dare to approach the tea trolley, while others pick up a stim toy. Those who remain seated are looking around, easing into the novel customs of a relaxed performance. Accompanied by gently fading colored lights, these are the first 15 minutes of the performance.
Leo Naomi Baur: ‘The Disempowered,’ 2025, installation view // Copyright Mayra Wallraff
The lights eventually dim, and the structures become projection screens, illuminated with moving images. The audio begins in German, asking: “what do I need to be comfortable here?” A polyphony of English, German and Syrian Arabic voices deliver the script. Baur assumes that the audience is not fluent in all three languages, and invites us to embrace moments of unintelligibility. At the same time, in the name of accessibility, the back of the script includes three QR codes providing transcriptions in all three languages. Baur offers the tools for understanding, but allows the audience members to define their own experience. The traditional mode of engagement with performance, however, is hard to leave at the door. Sitting quietly and judging those who fail to comply, is part of being a faithful audience member at conventional theaters. We sit attentively. Stand attentively. Anything else feels disrespectful, even here, despite being encouraged. In a space that initially appears to house an installation, we undeniably become the performers, fumbling in our attempt to “relax.” Ultimately, the live component of the performance is completed by those who purchase a ticket.
Leo Naomi Baur: ‘The Disempowered,’ 2025, installation view // Copyright Mayra Wallraff
As the piece continues, we slowly settle into our “relaxed” role—some lie flat with their eyes shut, tuning out the visual components and focusing on the audio. When a circular projection hits the ground, several people stand up to look down at it, while others swiftly approach. The performance feels comfortable, rather than just relaxed. This is Baur’s main success: accessibility is not an afterthought, but rather the bedrock of every creative decision experienced during ‘The Disempowered.’ The tent in the relaxed room shares its visual vocabulary with the rest of the installation, the teacups are honest props and the initial feeling of unfamiliarity seems, in the end, to elevate the performance experience.
The audio signals the end, and now it’s Baur’s voice that asks: “how could this possibly end, today?” The voices discuss how each of them would end the performance. Noise, screams, movement. The second last action should be cleaning, they suggest, with one objection. The last one is to be a hug.
Exhibition Info
Sophiensaele
Leo Naomi Baur: ‘The Disempowered’
Tanztage Festival: Jan. 9-25, 2025
tanztage.sophiensaele.com
Sophienstraße 18, 10178 Berlin, click here for map
