Eating and drinking are much more than just nourishment to maintain bodily functions. Food has an identity-forming and cultural dimension. The mythology of certain foods, such as bread in Western cultures or rice in Eastern cultures, inspire artists to engage with them. Eating rituals and table manners, food prohibitions or preferences, or feelings of pleasure and disgust are the driving forces and motifs. All senses are involved in eating and drinking.

After working with Unesco project schools from Lower Saxony on a performance at Theater Lüneburg in May 2008, the Berlin Project Fund for Cultural Education made it possible to realize the project in Berlin in 2009. The theme is explored with the help of four art media - dance, music, visual arts and writing.

This project was awarded the prize in the "Fine Arts, Architecture and Cultural History" category in the nationwide "Kinder zum Olymp" competition.

Idee, Visual Art: Baerbel Rothhaar
Music: Kathy Nierenz (aka Kathi Kelsh) und Boris Bell
Choreography, Dance: Ricarda Schuh
Word Work, Text installation: Christiane Keppler

Performances:
Theater Lüneburg, May 2007 in cooperation with 60 Students from four regional Unesco-
Projekt Schools and the Music School of the Hanseatic City of Lueneburg
Galerie Wedding Berlin, 24. April 2009 in cooperation with:
Kurt-Tucholsky-Elementary School, Moabit/Berlin
Moabiter Ratschlag e.V. and Schulgarten Moabit/Berlin
Leonardo da Vinci-High School, Neukölln/Berlin
Fanny Hensel Music School, Berlin,
Music School of the Hanseatic City of Lueneburg

Together with the dance instructor Nicola Nädler, Kathy Nierenz developed the dance performance „verRückt" for the dance class at the music school. They were joined by instrumental students of the music school, who were coached by Kathy Nierenz. The music entitled "Five Little Pieces" for String Quartet was written by Anteo Fabris, who was then 18 years young. Bärbel Rothhaar and Erdmute Blach from Rostock enhanced the performance with live painting on two overhead projectors.

The performance took place in November 2010 in Theater Lüneburg.

„Wohin Gehst Du?“ is a dance performance set in 5 Scenes, each having to do with finding oneself and ones place amongst peers and in the world in general. The orchestra musicians were students of the Music School of the Hanseatic City of Lueneburg, who for the first (and only) time in their lives had the chance to play in a real orchestra pit. One student, Clemens Bütje would later become the timpanist of the Lueneburg Symphony Orchestra, and thus has a professional relationship with the theater. The 100 dancers were students from 4 Unesco Project Schools in Lower Saxony and were coached by the dancer Kerstin Kessel, who also choreographed the piece.
In 2006 „Wohin gehst Du?“ had 4 performances in Theater Lüneburg. It had an enormous media echo from the Lueneburg/Hamburg newpapers, The „Neue Musikzeitung“ of Germany, and was a featured report on North German Radio (NDR). A video of the performance and documentation of the entire project was produced and shown at a movie theater in Lueneburg. In 2007 the production was invited to perform at the Unesco Headquarters in Paris, France.
In accordance and out of respect for the european data privacy laws, I’m not able to present the video or parts thereof on this website. If you are however interested in hearing the music of this gigantic and successful project, click onto the following links: Scene 4 or Scene 5.

• Conception and Project Coordination: Heinz Juergen Rickert (former coordinator of the UNESCO Project
  Schools in Lower Saxony)
• Choreography, Dance Instruction: Kerstin Kessel
• Musical Score, Orchestra Direction: Kathy Nierenz