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The ugly duckling tries to do everything right and does everything wrong. Labelled as ugly and annoying by the duck community, it tries to be the duckiest duck of all and gets tangled in the snares of an identity crisis. Thus begins an adventure journey through the world, driven by the fear of its true self, until it realises that it is a swan.


The story by Hans-Christian Andersen is one of the classics among modern fairy tales. But while many productions or even animated cartoons, such as the probably best-known interpretation by Walt Disney, emphasise the sad victim role of the duckling, director/choreographer Maria Walser focuses on the active confrontation with "not belonging".

The production is a humorous dance theatre about trusting one's own strength. With a total of four performers from music, dance and acting, an imaginative journey unfolds through the confusion of self-identification and identification with others, dedicated to the potential of anger and longing. At the same time, the piece also focuses on the question of subjective perception and role attribution. Is the duckling really ugly or is it a pigeonhole in one's own head why one perceives it as ugly? Can one move beautifully in a body that is labelled ugly by others? And what is a beautiful movement anyway?


(Program in German)


Additional information
Participating artists
Frida Grubba (Bühnenbild)
Kevin Paetzold (Ton & Licht)
Matthias Schönfeldt (Dramaturgie)
Marcus Thomas (Musikalische Leitung)
Maria Walser (Regie)
Falk Berghofer
Gina-Lisa Maiwald
Marcel Siegel
Steffi Sembdner-Erfurt
Dates
April 2025
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
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