LIEBE
"I want perfection in love." – Annie Ernaux
"LIEBE" is a duo of dance and voice performed by Alma Toaspern and Mathias Monrad Møller. The piece traces the tension of being caught between desire and despair — both a driving force and a source of self-destruction. Drawing on the journals of Annie Ernaux, Nobel Prize in Literature, LIEBE offers a feminist and queer take on the heterosexual scripts that continue to shape intimate encounters. By exposing norms and power structures that shape emotional behaviour it allows the piece to resonate across identities while questioning the stories we inherit about love. It weaves together themes of female desire, fascination with the unattainable, and the ambivalence of knowing what is good for oneself while acting otherwise. In a finely crafted blend of literature, dance, and music, the duo gives these contradictions vivid, tangible form on stage. In the stage set by internationally renowned Danish artist Christian Friedländers with humour and a precise and virtuosic performance, "LIEBE" reaches young and mature adults of all genders. It invites viewers to reflect on their own relational experiences, illuminating the complex, often paradoxical forces, operating quietly yet powerfully within contemporary relationships.
Sung in french, if necessary with surtitles in English or the local language.
About the Company: toaspern|moeller
Founded in 2020 by dancer–choreographer Alma Toaspern and singer–composer Mathias Monrad Møller, we are an interdisciplinary duo working at the intersection of dance, voice, and contemporary music. Our work explores what it means to be human today—physically, emotionally, and politically—addressing themes such as power structures, intimacy, belonging, and mass media culture. We are drawn to contradictions where humor meets gravity and vulnerability meets control, inviting audiences not to consume answers but to recognize themselves within these tensions.
Alma Toaspern, trained as a dancer in Frankfurt/ M. graduated from the Research Cycle at P.A.R.T.S. Brussels. She has collaborated internationally with artists including Tim Etchells, Kristin Helgebostad, Trajal Harrell, Alexandra Bachzetsis and Ben Frost, and was a member of Corpus at the Royal Danish Ballet, was a guest with Danish Dance Theater and Ballett Basel and is currently associated LAB artist at Kaserne Basel, Switzerland.
Mathias Monrad Møller is a Danish-German tenor and composer, trained in composition and classical singing in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Copenhagen. His work is performed and broadcasted internationally, including the Danish and the German National Radio; he is a recipient of numerous awards and released his debut album The Best Version of Myself in 2021.
CO-PRODUCTION
Co-production with the presenting venues LOFFT - Das Theater Leipzig (DE) and Ballett Basel (CH), featured at KSelekt at the Royal Danish Theater in Copenhagen in 2024
SUPPORTED BY
Statens Kunstfond, Udviklingsplatformen for Scenekunst, Augustinus Fonden, Knud Højgaards Fond, Wilhelm Hansen Fond, Københavns Kommunne, William Demant Fonden, Art Music Denmark and Koda Kultur, City of Leipzig and 4ft - Tanzplattform Leipzig
DURATION
56 min.
PREMIERE
July 4th, 2024 at LOFFT - Das Theater
DATES AVAILABLE FOR TOURING
From August 2026
CONTACT PERSON
Alma Toaspern, Artistic director
alma@toaspernmoeller.com
Mathias Monrad Møller, Artistic director
mathias@toaspernmoeller.com
Anne Mai Slot Vilmann, Producer
vilmannstageproduction@gmail.com
CREDITS
ALMA TOASPERN
(CHOREOGRAPHY)
MATHIAS MONRAD MØLLER
(MUSIC)
ANNIE ERNAUX
(TEXT)
CHRISTIAN FRIEDLÄNDER
(SET DESIGN)
MARTIN MULIK
(LIGHT)
BERNHARD SIEBERT
(OUTSIDE EYE)
OTTAVIA CATENACCI
(CHOREOGRAPHIC ASSISTANCE)
PEPITA NEUREUTHER
(ASSISTANT)
ELISABETH SCHILLER WITZMANN
(SET DESIGN CONSTRUCTION)
HELGE PETZOLD
(SOUND, DE)
MIKAEL TOBIAS
(SOUND, DK)
ULRIKE MELZWIG
(ARTISTIC PRODUCTION, DE)
INDRE JANKUTE
(PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE, DK)
NINA D'HAUTCOURT
(PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE, DK)
SIMONE ZWICKY
(PRODUCTION, DK)
ASTRID GRAVSHOLT
(ADMINISTRATION, DK)
LEON BABUCKE
(TRAILER, FILMING)
MATHIAS BROE
(TRAILER, EDITING)