A Year without Summer

Florentina Holzinger

Vienna / Berlin

TW / CN*: Some scenes include sex on stage, self-harming behavior, realistic depictions of blood, visible use of needles, detailed descriptions of sexualized violence, feces, and the depiction of childbirth.

 

It is 2025. We live in a year without summer. In a jump-scare reality that feels like an apocalyptic vision of our world thrown into darkness and stripped of certainty: Where survival becomes ritual and despair dances hand in hand with ecstasy. 

In 1816, the original "year without summer“, Mount Tambora erupts in Indonesia, ashes fill the sky, the sun disappears, crops fail, and the world hungers. That same year, 18-year-old Mary stays by Lake Geneva with other poets, where storm and darkness inspire them to tell ghost stories. Mary imagines Frankenstein, a genius of science, who forces nature to bend to his will and ends up in destruction with his monster assembled from corpses‘ parts. 

Florentina Holzinger and cast explore the stories we tell about our environment, bodies, health, decay and identities: The 21st century pursuit of longevity, medical promises to the perils of unchecked technological growth in a world shaped by AI, robotics, and bioengineering. A Year without Summer appropriates this attempt to improve nature to the point of perversion and plays off the promise of eternal life against the certainty of death. But what happens when the creation becomes the monster? When creation becomes (like) us?

 

Florentina Holzinger is a choreographer and performer. In her spectacular and physically intense pieces, she incorporates references from the history of performance and dance and relates them to other disciplines such as kickboxing, artistry, striptease and circus. Her works consciously play with the shifting boundaries between high and pop culture and are always feminist manifestos. She critically examines the representation of femininity and reflects on body discipline and gender images in dance. In 2021, Florentina Holzinger was represented with TANZ. A sylphidic reverie in stunts at the Festival Theaterformen.

Production credits

Direction, Choreography, Performance Florentina Holzinger Performance by and with Achan Malonda, Andrea Baker, Annina Machaz, Bärbel Warneke, Beatrice “Trixie” Cordua, Blathin Eckhardt, Born in Flamez, Brigitte “Gitti” Ulm, Constanza Pérez de Lara Bonatti, Bear Boy, Fibi Eyewalker, Florentina Holzinger, Gibrana Cervantes, Liane Jil Apel, Luna Luz de Duran, MING, Netti Nüganen, otay:onii, Renée Copraij, Renée Eigendorff, Saioa Alvarez, Ruiz, Sahel van K, Sofia Borges, Sophie Duncan, Sue Shay, Xana Novais Musical direction Born in Flamez, Stefan Schneider Composition Born in Flamez, Stefan Schneider, Josephinex Ashley Hansis Live Music Blathin Eckhardt, Born in Flamez, Gibrana Cervantes, otay:onii, Sofia Borges, MING Additional Music Production, Mixing, Arrangements Philipp Hülsenbeck Dramaturgy Felix Ritter, Fernando Belfiore, Michele Rizzo, Sara Ostertag Dramaturgy Volksbühne Leonie Hahn Assistant Director Xavier Perez Choreography Assistant Sophie Duncan Stage Design Nikola Knežević Costume Design Christiane Hilmer Technical Direction Emma Juliard, Stephan Werner Stage Technology, Rigging Dörte Wilforth Stunt Coordinator Ronny Hornig – Gravity Stunts Coaching Leon Le Nestour, Elisa Siegmund Lighting Design Kevin Sock Light Anne Meeussen, Fabian Bleisch Video Design Zoe Bassi, Max Heesen Sound Engineering Olivia Oyama, Rozenn Lièvre, Stefan Schneider Sound Assistance Fjóla Gautadóttir Stage Assistance Christiane Hilmer with Angela Ribera and Paulina Jarosinska Robotics Boiling Head, Zoe Bassi with a thanks to the Roboverse Community Intimacy Coaching Jasko Fide Intimacy Coordinators (Casting) Dani Brown, Frida Giulia Franceschini Production Management Sarah Parolin, Katharina Wallisch PR and Communication Giulia Messia Tour Management Sarah Parolin,Moira L Sunter Garee Management, international Distribution neon lobster / Katharina Wallisch & Giulia Messia Photos Nicole Marianna Wytyczak, Mayra Wallraff

A production by Florentina Holzinger/Spirit, neon lobster, Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz Berlin. In co-production with Tanzquartier Vienna, International Summer Festival Kampnagel, Dansenhus Stockholm, DE SINGEL Antwerp, Maska Ljubljana, asphalt Festival Düsseldorf, Rising Melbourne, Factory International Manchester, Divine Comedy International Theater Festival / Łaźnia Nowa Theater (Kraków) and Marvaða Iceland.

With the support of Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport Österreich.

Thank you to: Alicia Beier, Karsten Schuhl, Flo (doughnut head), Sina Lorber, Ada’s Deli, Dani Brown, Frida Giulia Franceschini.

 

*Trigger warning / Content notice