Dorotea Saykaly
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On March 20, 2026, the Pinakothek der Moderne presented the site-specific dance performance “Untitled: graceful, chaotic.” Together with the ballet ensemble of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz, choreographer Dorotea Saykaly created an immersive live experience in dialogue with the exhibition SWEETER THAN HONEY. EIN PANORAMA DER WRITTEN ART.
Video: De-Da Productions
Text: Madeleine Freund
Grace, gesture and vulnerability
Grace, gesture and vulnerability converge in the dance performance by Canadian choreographer Dorotea Saykaly. At the core of her work is the sculptural expansion of the body. Classical forms are dismantled and reassembled through a contemporary lens. The body is conceived not as a closed system, but as a permeable, malleable structure situated between mystical being, living sculpture, and cyborg. Together with eleven dancers, Dorotea Saykaly creates an immersive live experience that proposes a poetic deconstruction of body and space.
The performance responds directly to numerous works in the exhibition that emerged in the context of historical and contemporary political crisis. Gestural forms of expression, their expansion into space, and the spoken word are translated by Dorotea Saykaly into her choreographic language and with motifs of resilience, struggle, resolution, and hope. In doing so, the fragility of the body is pushed to its limits: a sculptural form that breaks open to reveal vulnerability.
About the choreographer
Dorotea Saykaly is an independent choreographer and dancer whose work moves fluidly between stage, screen, and immersive media. She danced with Compagnie Marie Chouinard (2006–2014) and then joined GöteborgsOperans Danskompani (2014–2019) where she worked with choreographers such as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Sharon Eyal, and Ohad Naharin. Since 2021, she has gone on to create for companies such as Ballet BC, Ballet Edmonton and Danish Dance Theater, and La Biennale Danza College.
Untitled: graceful, chaotic
Dorotea Saykaly Choreography
Maxime Lachaume, Daniela Bendini Choreographic assistance
Emil Dam Seidel Artistic adviser
Ballet of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Dancers
Montana Dalton, Wyatt Drew Florin, Marta Jaén Garcia,
César Lopez Castillo, Elisabet Morera Nadal,
Matthew Jared Perko, Alexander Quetell, Ariane Roustan,
Emily Yetta Wohl, Chia-Fen Yeh, Nicolò Zanotti
Ballet Director Karl Alfred Schreiner
Production Manager Lieke Vanbiervliet
Director Sammlung Moderne Kunst Oliver Kase
Curator Madeleine Freund
Supported by:
