The Rain Dancer

In his film The Rain Dancer Cyrill Lachauer takes us to Eastern Europe, where—between Christmas and New Year's Day—parades and dances with people in bear costumes are performed in some small towns. The participants are taking part in a fertility ritual in which the dancers imitate the pounding movements of a bear accompanied by drum music, thereby cleansing the soil and making it fertile for the new year.

Lachauer has removed the dance from its original context and replaced it with a forest clearing, where a man is dancing in a traditional bear costume. DJ and artist Moritz Stumm composed a techno soundtrack to accompany the scene. With his film, Lachauer highlights the role of spirituality inscribed in the countryside and landscape in certain regions.

The Rain Dancer joins a group of dance films, like that of Esel and Justin. They all are characterized by the pursuit to establish a connection with the landscape through movement, music and ritual. – Cornelia Gockel