BirdsLAND

Light-Footed and Defiant: Nadine Gerspacher and the Search for True Joy

Nadine Gerspacher is a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of Cia Nadine Gerspacher. Her work is shaped by an everyday-fueled dance theatre that combines humor, the absurd, and unfiltered physicality with poetic depth. Gerspacher is interested in figures and states beyond perfection—in vulnerability, transformation, and the power of playful moments.

For over twenty years, she has worked internationally as a choreographer, dancer, and teacher. Her artistic signature is informed by a wide range of influences—from contemporary dance theatre to popular movement forms—and by a commitment to making dance accessible without simplifying it. Gerspacher’s works create images that move, unsettle, and emotionally engage audiences—across generations and with immediacy.

3 TAGE FREI presents: BirdsLAND

In BirdsLAND, Nadine Gerspacher and Jonathan Sánchez meet in a duet that explores whether—and how—genuine joy is possible in challenging times. Inspired by swing and tap dance in the spirit of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, a contemporary dance performance unfolds, full of lightness yet never remaining on the surface.

Playful nonchalance meets dry humor, dream logic meets reality: suddenly, the performers wear oversized heads of a peacock and a kingfisher, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. BirdsLAND opens a space between dreaming and waking and invites audiences to rediscover spontaneity, authenticity, and the inner child.

The piece asks what is lost when we drift away from our playful side—and which connections to ourselves and to others begin to wither. BirdsLAND is an invitation to live in the moment and to resist the gravity of everyday life with danced lightness.