Jazz, Tanz, Rhönrad, Film: Matinée Dorée

The "Matinée Dorée" sheds light on the Golden Twenties from the perspective of female self-determination and a spirit of change – between jazz culture, sporty modernity, and the early cinematic gaze at a woman who left her time far behind.

Louis Finest with the jazz program "A Night At The Cotton Club"

The 6-member formation "Louis Finest" will present excerpts from their new program "A Night At The Cotton Club". This recalls the era of the New York jazz club, which was shaped by the jazz music of bands like Jimmy Lunceford, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway. The prohibition era with gangster figures like Al Capone was also part of it.

Louis Finest plays songs from that time, partly in their original sound but also repeatedly in versions as they would sound today. Not only are the three house bands, who represented the main performers, quoted, but also various individual artists who frequently appeared as guests in the club, such as Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, or Louis Armstrong.

The Rhönrad – a sporty cult object of the 1920s

The desire for a trained body and playful community experiences brought forth collective performances, (…) such as Rhönrad gymnastics. In this, a rolling sports device made of two hoops, in the dimensions of Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man, was set in motion by an athlete clamped inside. It was unclear whether the person appeared squeezed in or heroically rolling beyond themselves, but the rather quirky elegance of the Rhönrad was undoubtedly enticing.

It was invented in 1921 by the railway worker and unionist Otto Feick in the Mainz military prison of the French occupying force, where he had been imprisoned for two years for sabotaging trains in patriotic resistance.

By 1927, the Rhönrad was so widespread that it was moved in groups and formations, rolling around synchronously. (…)

Afterward, the Rhönrad song was sung: "In sports one really has the most fun, practicing with the Rhönrad." (inspired by Harald Jähner, Höhenrausch)

Film screening afterward: Miss Stinnes Travels Around the World

"The villa of the industrial magnate Hugo Stinnes, the 'King of Inflation', was within earshot of the Berlin Avus. Perhaps the noise of the engines contributed to his daughter Clärenore never being able to get enough of cars throughout her life. When the Avus was opened, she was twenty; at 24, she won the 'All-Russian Test Drive', and a year later, in 1926, the Grand Prix of Germany – of course on the home Avus. A year later, at the age of 26, she embarked on a journey around the world in a car, over long stretches through areas that had never seen a car before." (Harald Jähner, Höhenrausch) She was accompanied by cameraman Carl-Axel Söderström to document her almost two-year journey.

Söderström's historical film footage and his diary entries form the basis of Erica von Moeller's film "Miss Stinnes Travels Around the World," from 2009, featuring the award-winning actress Sandra Hüller in the lead role.

"The documentary material combines Moeller's reconstructions with staged narrative film scenes. During the journey, Stinnes and Söderström overcame obstacles such as the frozen Baikal Lake or the Andes in South America and experienced some tense situations like robber gang attacks or water shortages. Since there was no road network in most areas during the 1920s, the two largely traveled over completely unpaved roads or simply cross-country through the terrain." (wikipedia)

"[… Carl-Axel Söderström's] fascinating documents provide, free from any exoticism, rare insights into foreign worlds and showcase regions completely untouched by tourism and infrastructure. …" (Lexikon des internationalen Films)

Tickets in advance from 7,- €