Normality No More Conny Janssen Danst / Via Berlin / Ragazze Quartet

A bestseller in classical music, Schubert's Winterreise , is stripped to the bone and rebuilt again. In the original Winterreise, the main character makes a lonely, winter journey after his love has left him. Searching for inner peace, but tormented and haunted by memories, he is left stranded on the ice in despair. In Normality No More , modern dance, musical theater and classical music merge into a new version: an ode to the divergent brain and a call for understanding and empathy for people who experience the world differently from 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, embrace their own diversity and at the same time long 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, versatile and wonderful qualities of neurodiverse people.

Ragazze Quartet previously made a version for baritone and string quartet of Winterreise , originally written for baritone and piano based on a poem by Willhelm Müller. In Normality No More she puts together a multi-colored ensemble with an unusual combination of instruments and styles. With countertenor, jazz vocals, string quartet, electronics, keyboards, 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 between 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.