Choreography & Artistic Diretor
Karola Lüttringhaus
The Cast in order of appearance:

Marta - Karola Lüttringhaus (Andrea Lieske)
Annabella - Bridget Morris (Lena Rose Polzonetti)
Friedolina – Jennifer Raine Kostel (Alayna Stroud )

Lighting Design: Jennifer O'Kelly, Karola Lüttringhaus
Set Design: Karola Lüttringhaus, Jennifer O’Kelly
Set Carpenter I: Karola Lüttringhaus
Set Carpenter II: Robert “Gern” Lumpkins
Scene painting: Jennifer O’Kelly
Set painting: Karola Lüttringhaus
Props: Karola Lüttringhaus, Alayna Stroud
Costumes: Karola Lüttringhaus, Andrea Lieske, Alayna Stroud
Music: The Hog Tie Sessions, Lorena Guillén (E.Cadicamo/J.C.Cobian), Sam Taylor, Luciano Berio excerpt with Cathy Berberian (voice), David Crowe, Mark A. Wienand, Jeff Matlock Schmitt, Rhan Small/tapecase.
Sound collage, editing and voice by Karola Lüttringhaus.
About the story of “ROOMS” – a character analysis and background information:

When Marta was 18 years old she was forced to start a new life. Marta set out on a journey around the world that would last just as long as her life up until then. And she forgot... During the years to come she never once felt the need to question her memory loss, even perceive it as such, until memories surfaced into conscience. 20 years ago she had neatly tucked memories and pain away in the neverending vastness of a small wooden house, a miniature model of the real world. Whatever didn’t fit in, she put in her luggage which became unmanageably heavy for anyone but her. As images and faces of people she believed to have once known emerged more frequently Marta followed her memory's invitation without question and today finds herself somewhat startled back home in a deserted but well preserved house. Marta enters the house with curiosity and determination as she follows her own instinct which will guide her through the process of remembering. She comes with a plan, a plan that she had laid out for herself 20 years ago, when she decided to take a break from reality only to return to it when she was older and able to face the events that changed everyones lives so dramatically. Marta had two younger sisters. Annabella was a deeply imaginative child, scared of the unknown and afraid of the dark. She saw spirits and ghosts and spent most of her time with books or imaginary friends. A n n a b e l l a was afraid to be in the house, which she believed was haunted and would rather sleep outside in the open. Today she is the kind of powerful, quiet woman who can achieve anything and doesn't share her feelings with anyone. She is an eccentric, beautiful woman and artist who never quite trusted people, which caused her to go through several marriages. Friedolina, the youngest, was difficult and unruly; a wild spirit haunted by a profound loneliness. Her moods would change from sweet to angry to depressed and despite all of her own attempts to fit in, she never did. She had an immense depth to her soul in which not only she got lost and for which people believed her to be only partly human. Friedolina was so light like a birds feather and the slightest movement would unsettle her deeply. Marta and Annabella used big heavy stones and magic shoes to weigh her down but her mind would wander because her spirit wanted to be free. Attempts at making herself like the others only made things worse. Attempts to escape through the attic window caused her to remain under supervision most of the time. For fear of losing her she was kept indoors. Marta was a witch. Her supernatural experiments backfired often turning her sisters' lives into nightmares; besides she would laugh at Annabella for reading silly books about love. She kept nagging her for her unrealistic attitude towards life. Accidentally, Marta trapped spirits and ghosts in the doors of the house, that would never allow Annabella to cross; they would harass her, beat her and incessantly talk to her. Annabella eventually avoided them entirely by walking through the walls. Maybe Annabella's near invisibility in her youth could account for her eccentric and bright appearance as an adult. Annabella never suspected her sister behind the haunted doors; and Marta tried to make wrongs right and created a garden for Annabella in which she could be happy and safe from all evil; a garden where time would not go by and where she could find rest and refuge. Marta never did anything out of spite; she loved her sisters more than anyone, but her inquisitive and somewhat dominant nature frequently got in her way. The bond between Marta and Friedolina was very strong. It was hard for Marta to see how her sister suffered from her lightness and even more so from the denial of her true self. Friedolina belonged to the spirits and fairies in the old forest. Everything changed in one day. Marta remembers her mother clutching at her shoulders, shaking her until she passed out. The yelling would not stop for hours, days. Pain permeates her brain, her heart. Marta believed in the goodnes of her actions. But no one understood. Friedolina had tried to fly away many times, sometimes by accident sometimes intentionally. Marta knew deep within that she was doing the right thing when she helped Friedolina escape. They had both planned it very carefully. Marta summoned a snowstorm to make it impossible for people to follow her sister. They were snowed in all the way up to the top of the window on the second floor out of which Friedolina had jumped. Friedolina’s body was never found. Marta had turned into the most hated person in her family. And as her doubts grew daily she was faced with the worst of her mistakes. Tonight Marta sets the table for three, she opens the window to allow Friedolina to come back. When Annabella finally arrives late this evening she brings with her the hope that Marta had lost 20 years ago. Together they summon a spell by the fireplace. They talk and wait for a long while. Sleep overcomes them and they drift into a dream by the fireplace. Just before the night is over Friedolina returns, a beautiful slender woman with translucent fairy wings. At this point we leave the story open for the viewer. Are Marta and Annabella dreaming; is she really there; is she going to stay, is she a metaphor for the love that never dies, or is it a testament to the existence of magic or the belief in the overcoming of problems larger than life? When Marta returns home and “ROOMS” begins, we enter a profound meditation on the transforming power of recovering the past. When “ROOMS” ends and Friedolina returns we close our eyes and dream of our lost dreams and make them come back. -----------------------------------------------


Supported by the Winston-Salem Foundation, the John Wesley and Anna Hodgin Hanes Foundation, the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, The Vintage Theatre, the Academy of Dance Arts, O’Kelly Design Studios, Free Lance Staging, Gern’s Design Production…, the Millennium Center and many others, volunteers, donors and friends. Thank you for your support!

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Premiere: May 24, 2006, Winston-Salem, NC
(Preview: June 9th, 2005 Piccolo Spoleto Festival)
Duration: 60 minutes

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Copyright: alban elved dance company & Karola Lüttringhaus
Copyright: alban elved dance company & Karola Lüttringhaus

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alban elved dance company/KAROLA LUTTRINGHAUS
Berlin - New York City - North Carolina
albanelved@albanelved.com
copyright: alban elved dance company/Karola Luttringhaus - all rights reserved [mad duck productions]