spooning&entre.les.montagnes

“spooning&entre.les.montagnes” explores the tension between what disappears and what remains: wandering sounds searching for a rhythm that can hold everything together. At the center of the work is the practice of “Löffelä,” a percussive spoon-like playing tradition often associated with Swiss folk music. The artist deliberately removes this sound from its seemingly exclusive cultural setting and places it within a new, more accessible horizon. From a queer perspective, Benrath investigates how traditions can become more permeable and what possibilities arise when they are reconsidered and reshaped. By taking apart and reassembling sounds, gestures, and meanings, the performance creates a space in which intergenerational knowledge is not simply preserved but set into motion.

Sami Lea Samira Bernath is a dancer, choreographer, and DJ. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance from La Manufacture. In her work, Sami draws on her bodily knowledge, her interest in history, and her fascination with rhythm. Her practice explores the permeability, and thus the relevance, of empirical knowledge passed down through generations, with a particular focus on questioning Swiss traditions. In 2023, she presented her solo zwüschä dä hüglä & between the hills at Dampfzentrale in Bern. In 2024, she created spooning & entre.les.montagnes for Quarts d’heures de Sévelin 36. Sami is a member of the collective hearhere, with which she presented their first production at TANZhAUS in Bern in September 2025.

The piece will be presented as part of the festival opening at the Festival Centre. Admission is free, and everyone is warmly invited to join the opening aperitivo afterwards.