The research Tongues Entangled roots in a research around the historical figure Hildegard von Bingen (HvB), who is known as a prolific abbess, scientist, composer and mystic from the early middle ages. By exploring her musical compositions and studying the records of her mystical visions, Carrie McILwain and Johanna Ackva delve into Hildegard’s universe. Drawn to the notion of Viriditas (Greenness), a metaphor within HvB’s work that points at the omnipresent sensorial experience of divinity in the earthly world, they reclaim this idea independently from patriarchal and anthropocentric Christianity. Their engagement with this “Greenness” is lead by an image of erotic entanglement and the potentiality to relate otherwisely to a contemporary world threatened by ecological crises.

A work-in-progress showing in the frame of Unfinished Fridays (Lake Studios, Friedrichshagen) was based on the vocal performance of specific “green” lines from HvB’s compositions. Looking for their resonance in the body, a sequence of still or slowly moving choreographic constellations arose. Intimacy and formal clarity going hand in hand, offering a space and time for contemplation to the audience seated in a circle around.

Concept, choreography, performance: Johanna Ackva & Carrie McILwain | Dramaturgical advice: Elisabeth Leopold | Thanks to: Marcela Giesche & Lake Studios Berlin | Video (Stills): Nobutaka Shomura