ZAPFENSTREICH
The Power Of Posing

In 2021, Chancellor Angela Merkel retires from office. She is being honored by a grand military ceremony, broadcasted live. Although the socalled “Zapfenstreich” (tattoo) is a 300-year-old German military tradition, the images of German soldiers marching through the night while holding burning torches disturbs both German and international audiences: many associate the show with historical images of the Nazis. Despite the different context, the ceremony sparks a discussion: how should the (German) military present itself as part of a modern democracy? Three years later, the international group Boys* in Synch reenacts the TV broadcast: as performers and dancers from different European countries, they treat the military movements as choreographies that question masculinity, conformity, and power, blending them with moments of disruption, queerness, and intimacy.

By and with: Ragni Halle, Jay Tebogo Fiskerstrand, Gregers Hansen, Jakob Krog und Simon David Zeller

Technical support: Frithjof Gawenda

Music: Niko Ursin

Promoted by the Culture Department of the city of Frankfurt am Main and the Fonds Darstellende Künste with funds from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. ZAPFENSTREICH is part of the Boys* in Sync project „Mother Europe“, supported by Statens Kunstfonds, Grenland Friteater, Kultursenter Fossekleiva and TOASTER/Husetsteater Kopenhagen.