Photo: Ursula Kaufmann
The Ben J. Riepe Kompanie’s artistic works display a provocative poetics, drama and irony are closely intertwined and beauty has preserved its critical potential. Choreography is more than an arrangement of dancing bodies. Ben J. Riepe developed a wilful artistic language that is both uncompromisingly in its consequence and experimental in its search for new means and forms of expression. This creates compositions that combine multi-layered movement-images with self-reflexive references to the principle situation of theatrical performance. In the work of the Ben J. Riepe Kompanie choreography becomes an exploration of the emotional complexities of our contemporary reality.
“Ben J. Riepe knows how to fascinate. His works, drawing from mythology, theatre, popular culture and fine arts, defy categorization and most interpretations. Due to this, their impact is all the more emotional.“ (Thomas Hag, Neue Rhein Zeitung)
Ben J. Riepe studied dance and choreography at the Folkwang Hochschule Essen. He worked with NEUER TANZ in Düsseldorf and was a guest dancer in Pina Bausch’s ensemble at the Tanztheater Wuppertal. He already won first acclaim with his own plays while doing his post-graduate studies in choreography. The Ben J. Riepe Company was founded in 2004 and, as of now, comprises a team of twelve. Having won multiple awards, the choreographer presented his productions in China and Southeast Asia in 2009 and was invited to the German Dance Platform 2010 with the production LIEBE | TOD | TEUFEL – DAS STÜCK. In March 2009 the company was selected as one of four ensembles for the “Spitzenförderung”, a three-year basis funding by the Government of North-Rhine-Westphalia, and since June 2010 the group has their own production space in Dusseldorf. In 2011, Ben J. Riepe recieved the award for the performing arts of the City of Düsseldorf.
