The performance Comma by Anne Juren premieres in 2016 at brut Wien and marks a decisive shift in her artistic research. Following earlier works such as Magical and Pornography: A Trying Out, which examined sexuality and the pornographic gaze in the context of theatre, Juren moves away from representation. Instead she creates immediate physical experiences for the audience with their own bodies.

To achieve this she develops choreographic sessions in which she investigates the interplay between written word, spoken text, physical perception, choreography and, not least, the audience. These sessions address and activate the body on multiple levels simultaneously, from the little toe to the stomach, from the hairline to the heart. The participants embark on a guided dream journey through their own bodies. Comma forms another chapter in an ongoing performance series and artistic research process that began with the work The Point, presented in summer 2015 at the 21er Haus on invitation by ImPulsTanz.

At the centre lies the direct activation of the body as a site of imagination, perception and shared experience. Juren works with precise linguistic and choreographic instructions that evoke inner images and physical sensations. The performance space becomes a shared environment in which the boundary between guidance and personal imagination deliberately blurs. The focus is not on the display of bodies but on the activation of the bodies present.

Comma draws its relevance from this shift toward unmediated, collective experience. The work opens a space in which the audience no longer merely observes but becomes an active carrier of the performance. In this way Juren subtly yet radically explores how language, imagination and physical presence intertwine and enable new forms of community in the theatre.