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ALABAMA SONG Dance Video by Stefanie Sixt and Anina von Molnar to the song out of the Opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht  The fate of women who give up their orderly lives to become prostitutes in the City of Mahagonny (Sodom and Gomorrha) is the subject of Alabama Song. This image of women brings up a strong polarity between the proletarian housewife on one hand and the sex symbol - women reduced to being a commercial product - on the other hand, neglecting the basic need for hypen self-expression and individuality. Realisation The dancer Anina von Molnar plays three roles in the dance video Alabama: She is housewife (plain reality), bur- lesque dancer (sexuality) and finally herself (artists). Her dancing expression shows the conflict of the three female roles and also between the urge for self-expression and the imposed gender constraints within each of the three: There are soft, fluid movements in contrast to machinelike ones. In her third role as dancer, representing art, she finally breaks from the restraints: Imposed restrictions are lifted just like their inner representations. Each of the three roles are illustrated by images from Metropolis and Kuhle Wampe which refer to the time of the big crisis in 1928 and so to today. At the end there is a change, parts of the black and white projection turn to Orange - the goal is the recon- nection with oneself, and then to Purple - the colour of spirituality. Audio There is a mix of various elements, based on the Alabama Song with Lotte Lenya (1955) and a cover ver- sion of the band Misuk (2009). At selected moments there are machine noises and a low, dark sound, dragging the audience away from the song and end up in a spheric ambience at the last scene with Anina von Molnar being liberated from role expectations. Screenings: Preview version of "Alabama Song" as opening movie @ International Brecht Short Film Competition, Augsburg 2010 Director/Production: Stefanie Sixt, 21.02.2010 Scricpt /Editing: Stefanie Sixt and Anina von Molnar Dancer and Choreography: Anina von Molnar Singer: Lotte Lenya and Eva Gold Music: Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Misuk DoP: Xaver Schweyer Camera-Operator: Frank Baumann Camera-Assistent: Sebastian Ettinger Technician and stagecraft: Fritz Effenberger Equipment: swebecam Make-Up: Adina Buerger and Christine Schejankov Catering: Judith Simon Location: Abraxas Theatre, Augsburg |