Conny Janssen Danst | Normality No More

What is actually normal? And who decides? In Normality No More - a fusion of musical theater, modern dance and classical music - three top companies take you into a neurodiverse world of experience. Boundaries blur between normal and strange, neurotypical and neurodiverse, spectator and participant. Where are you on the spectrum?

A bestseller in classical music, Schubert's Winterreise is boned to the bone and rebuilt anew. In the original Winterreise, the protagonist embarks on a lonely, winter journey after his love leaves him. Seeking inner peace, but tormented and haunted by memories, he is left on the ice in despair. In Normality No More, modern dance, musical theater and classical music merge to create a new version: an ode to the divergent brain and a call for understanding and empathy for people who experience the world differently than the masses.

In Normality No More, all dancers, musicians and actors play a character inspired by both personal experiences and scientific research on neurodivergence. They show their strength and vulnerability, embracing their own diversity while longing for social integration. The audience experiences what it is like to step into the shoes of people who are seen as "strange" and discovers the unique, multifaceted and wonderful qualities of the neurodiverse human being.

Ragazze Quartet previously made a version for baritone and string quartet of Winterreise, originally written for baritone and piano to a poem by Willhelm Müller. In Normality No More, she assembles a multicolored ensemble with an unusual combination of instruments and styles. With countertenor, jazz vocals, string quartet, electronics, keys, percussion and bagpipes, Schubert's music is transformed into a completely new, neurodiverse alternative from pulsating electro pop to hypnotic string glissandi and Surinamese dance rhythms.

The performance Normality No More is the artistic product of a collaboration of Dagmar Slagmolen (Via Berlin), choreographer Davide Bellotta (Conny Janssen Danst) and Ragazze Quartet under the final direction of Ria Marks and advice from Conny Janssen.

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