What critics had to say on JOYN’s Premiere in Konstanz
Joyn by Dana Rufolo is an experimental fantastical narrative poem with a beautiful musical quality to it interlacing moments of lyrical stillness and rhythmic sharpness.
The one hour performance of Joyn in Konstanz Stadttheater on 3.12.2022 was a feast not merely for the eyes but also for the ears.
Joyn boasts a distinct energy by incorporating a whole range of emotions alternating playful intervals with serious sequences, and dream-like sequels with grounded action. The director, Dr. Dana Rufolo, and the choreographer, Martin Anders, successfully enriched the storytelling between Dawn and Moon by having the dancers physically interpret the wedding with evocative movements.
One of Joyn´s trademarks are its repetitions which oscillate between irony, humor, incantation and meditation. To hear them spoken and woven into exquisite dance choreographies adds a new dimension to the poetry. As the vivacious wedding proceeds on stage one can feel the emotional impact not merely of the poem itself as sound and voice, but also of the dance and motion –like a perfect pas-de-deux they manage to blend Joyn into a unique introspective mythical tale capturing the audience from beginning to end. It´s a performance that invites you to feel, to reflect, and „with joy, to join in“. An outstanding performance, one to be remembered and repeated!
Jens Müller
JOYN – Join in Joy, a celebration of love and community, telling the exciting story of an adventurous climb
Practicing JOYN at the Anhaltisches Theater, Dessau, 8 August 2021
JOYN is a narrative poem with dance that premiered at the Konstanzer Stadtheater on 3 December 2022
JOYN -Performed at the Stattheater Konstanz
JOYN – a marriage made in Mega-heaven
The narrative poem Joyn: A Marriage Made in Megaheaven is a 48-page rhythmic, alliteration-, assonance-, and consonance-rich narrative poem recounting the story of how wedding guests drive across a national border and up to the foot of an alpine peak called in the poem Meglisalpolis, hike up it, arrive at a tiny stone church and wooden inn nestled in a valley at the peak, and then participate in the church wedding, a party afterwards, the wedding dinner, and a gift-giving ceremony.