No ropes, no silks, and no wires existed, yet the dancers of AscenDance Project were suspended in the air. The world premiere of New Heights: Dancing on the Walls that Divide Us appeared at the Dairy Arts Center on October 12 & 13, 2019. With this new work, AscenDance Project strives to call attention to the numerous ways division can transpire, then counters it with connection.
German dancer and rock climber Isabel von Rittberg was only 9 years old when the Berlin Wall came down in her country in 1989. Now, as founder and performer of Boulder-based AscenDance Project, she uses climbing walls as vertical canvases to express a myriad of emotions through thoughtful and stirring movements. The latest offering from this innovative troupe, “New Heights: Dancing on the Walls that Divide Us,” will take audiences on a multi-sensory journey that explores the current political climate, the intricacies of the human condition and the unrelenting power of love.
Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabel von Rittberg. Isabel, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in Beyenburg, a tiny village tucked away in Germany’s green rolling hills riding bareback and roaming around the woods. Summers were spent hiking Montana’s Rocky Mountains while visiting my mother’s family.
