The extinction in question here is that of birds. Romanian choreographer Sergiu Matis, in collaboration with composer AGF (Antye Greie-Ripatti), has created a multi-directional, immersive sound installation to denounce the dramatic decline of birds due to the climate crisis and massive changes in biodiversity. The audience is immersed into the heart of a musical landscape broadcasting the cries, calls and songs of extinct or endangered species, collected over several decades by an American ornithology laboratory and a Dutch foundation. Three performers, including the choreographer himself, guide visitors and, in the course of their interventions, raise awareness about the issue. Using scientific commentary and mythical tales evoking the history of these birds, as well as folk songs and dances, they raise awareness about past and future losses. Or how to make people hear, in a way that  is as inspired as it is committed, the voice of a nature that man is determined to muzzle and destroy everywhere...

Source: programme of CND

Born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Sergiu Matis has been living and working in Berlin since 2008. Matis trained at the Mannheim Academy of Dance, and he has performed with Tanztheater Nuremberg and Sasha Waltz & Guests. His dance practice is based on a reflection on the body in movement, which he calls the «visible thinking body», and it uses the voice as much as the body to express the upheavals of our times. His work has been presented at numerous European institutions and festivals, including ImPulsTanz (Vienna), DansFabrik (Brest) and Artdanthé Festival (Vanves).

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).