Short Biography

The Berlin dance company RUBATO was founded in 1985 by the dancers/choreographers Jutta Hell and Dieter Baumann. To date, they have developed 70 full-length pieces in a wide variety of artist constellations and cultures, which have been shown on numerous tours around the world.

From 1989 to 1992 they worked with Gerhard Bohner and in 1992 received the Prize for Performing Arts from the Academy of Arts, Berlin. In 1993. 1997 and 2005 there were co-productions with the “steirischer herbst” in Graz/Austria.

Since 1995 to date, continuous work stays and co-productions in China (Guangdong, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang, Yunnan Province). Since then, the international project "Duty Free" (2001) with dancers from China, Estonia, Canada and Germany, as well as "Person to Person" (2002), a duet with Dieter Baumann and the Chinese star dancer Jin Xing have been realized.

2003 "zukunft_erinnern_Baumann_Bohner_Solo with Videofragment" commissioned by the Academy of Arts, Berlin. In the spring of 2004 the play “America! question” was developed with six American dancers and toured in Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, Boston and New York. In 2005, two commissioned works were realized for the House of World Cultures, Berlin: SHANGHAI BEAUTY with 14 Chinese dancers and EIDOS_TAO with 5 Chinese dancers. In 2006, the production SHANGHAI BEAUTY was the most successful production at the Swiss STEPS Festival.

2007 Artist collaboration with mes:a Art Collective, Cardiff and Taliesin Art Center, Swansea, Wales/UK, two pieces are created: “Gloria Days” (2007) and “3 men running” (2008). In 2009 and 2010, the Federal Cultural Foundation made possible a project with six independent dancers/choreographers from Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The piece: “Look at me, I ́m Chinese” premiered at the Berlin International Dance Festival “Tanz im August” in Radialsystem V. 2011 Continuation of the collaboration with Mahjong Dance Shanghai, expanded by 3 western dancers. In 2011 the production: “milk&bread / rice&water” was created in Shanghai and Berlin. This production tours Shanghai Asia Contemporary Theater Festival and Beijing in November 2012.

2012, “FindeOrte” is a new duet from and with the dancers/choreographers Hell and Baumann (Festival TanzHoch3, tanzfabrik Berlin). In 2012 “The Swatch Art Peace Hotel Residency Program” chooses the dance company Rubato /Hell / Baumann as the first choreographers/dancers for a four-month residency in Shanghai, from December 2012 – March 2013. “Two Figures in a Landscape” and “Happiness” are created as a work in progress, in cooperation with the dancer/choreographer Li Ling Xi and the British visual artist Jonathan Baldock. The video “Two Figures in a Landscape ” is presented by the Swatch Group at the Biennale di Venezia 2015.

In 2015 the dance company Rubato celebrates its thirtieth anniversary. “Uncertain States”, a piece for 5 dancers (funded by the Senate Department for Europe and Culture and the FDK) and the duet “Repetition and Difference” funded by the Capital Culture Fund, are created in the anniversary year.

In 2016/17/18 there was presented a new production in each year. In parallel, intensive research collaboration with the scenographer Penelope Wehrli, the programmer Joa Glasstetter, various composers and musicians. Under the title “Eadweard's Ear_Muybridge extended” several editions of an installation are being created in which Hell / Baumann as dancers / choreographers interacted with a group of musicians in real time in an open dialogic game system via an interface. Performances and guest appearances in Berlin (Uferstudios, Academy of Arts), Basel (Festival for New Music), Frankfurt (Mousonturm).

In 2018, three new productions have been realized, “Figures in a Landscape” with 8 dancers from Europe and China, supported by the HKF, in cooperation with the National Museums in Berlin, the Gemäldegalerie im Kulturforum and the Power Station of Art, Shanghai, the TanzFonds Heritage project “SOS_Gerhard Bohner_Tanzcompagnie Rubato” in cooperation with the Academy of Arts, Berlin and “bluesky thinking”, premiered at Uferstudios Berlin.

2019 cooperation as dancer and choreographer with the filmmaker and director of the Academy of Arts Jeanine Meerapfel and the musician Floros Floridis. The result is an audiovisual essay consisting of film, music and dance about artificial intelligence. “Moving Sand / Topos” premiered as part of the series “The Elephant in the Room” at the Academy of Arts, Berlin. In addition, the production “traces#62” was created as a trio for two dancers and a live musician.

In 2020, the piece “KörperWetter” had its streaming premiere on June 5th, due to Corona. The trio with Dieter Baumann, Alessandra Defazio, Anja Sielaff and the live musician Alexander Nickmann have been streamed in 3 episodes with a handheld camera (Andrea Keiz) that accompanies the dancers on stage. Production and choreography, Jutta Hell.

In cooperation with the international soloist ensemble for contempotaty music zeitkatzer, a project for 8 dancers and 8 musicians have been created in 2021 "The time is always now", a dance and live concert, funded by the Capital Culture Fund. In 2022, the HKF continue to support the production "SEHNSUCHT, Anatomy of a Feeling". Seven dancers, two live musicians and a video artist examined the phenomenon of LONGING, which played a major role for many people during the pandemic. Due to its success, the piece ZWEIFEL has been realized with the same group in 2023, again funded by the HKF and the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.

In October 2024 "Polarization and Empathy" a new creation will be premiered in Berlin, again funded by the Capital Culture Fund.

The dance company Rubato, Hell and Baumann have been supported for many years by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and again and again by the Capital Culture Fund and the Performing Arts Fund.