Veitstanz/Feixtanz

Historically, the phenomenon of St Vitus’ Dance (Veitstanz) first appeared in the Middle Ages, when groups of adults and children danced in public until they lost consciousness. In 1988, 13 women and men attempted to revisit the power of this ancient ritual in Erfurt. Dancing at sites of their own choosing, each one developed, without any music, their own movement which they then repeated to the point of ecstasy. "Shot in East Germany, home to a socialist dictatorship, the film expresses the freedom that is inherent in all of us, should we choose to grasp it." (Gabriele Stötzer)

Source: 70. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)