jee chan: ratu – Sophiensæle | Independent Theater in Berlin

jee chan:
ratu

An older dancer in a colorful traditional costume with a green top, golden patterns, and a pink headdress poses in front of a white studio backdrop. She holds a long pink cloth in both hands and stands barefoot.
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Born and raised in Indonesia as a royal court dancer in the classical Surakarta tradition, Naniek K. moved to Berlin in 1978, where she built a career as a fashion model. ratu by jee chan is an intimate portrait of this magnetic performer, now 81 years old – an intergenerational exploration of tradition, gender, social agency, and embodied memory.

While honoring her extraordinary life story, the work questions how tradition persists and transforms within diasporas. Ritual meets the runway in a performance driven by sound artists Rose & Zach, who provocatively style Javanese gamelan with electronic synths.

Premiere Ticket
Ticket

The information on accessibility is still in progress and will be updated as soon as possible. If any questions remain unanswered until then, please feel free to contact the communication department at barrierefreiheit@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 35. Please note that details may change by the day of the event. Therefore, if you find out after you have purchased your ticket that the performance is no longer accessible to you, you can contact us for a ticket return at ticketing@sophiensaele.com or 030 27 89 00 45 until 5 business days after the event (Monday through Friday between 10am and 6pm).

Early boarding

If, for artistic reasons, the door to the auditorium does not open until very shortly before the performance begins, there is the option of early boarding.

Tickets

  • Reservations can be made via the ticket telephone at 030 283 52 66, Monday to Friday from 4pm-6pm
  • Via the online ticket shop
  • At the box office

You can also find more information about accessibility at the house here.

Concept, choreography, installation, performance: jee chan
Choreography, performance: Naniek K.
Sound, performance: Rosemainy Buang, Zachary Chan
Video: Zachary Chan
Light design: Gretchen Blegen
Dramaturgical support: Nima Séne
Outside eye: Jette Büchsenschütz
Production assistance: Hardistya Putri

A production by jee chan in co-production with Sophiensæle. Funded by the National Arts Council, Singapore. Developed at Dance Nucleus' da:ns LAB 2025. The performances as part of Tanztage Berlin 2026 are supported by the Goethe-Institut.  The 35th Tanztage Berlin is a production of Sophiensæle. Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. With the kind support of Tanzfabrik Berlin e.V., Theaterhaus Berlin, and HZT Berlin. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Rausgegangen, Siegessäule, taz.

jee chan (all pronouns) is an artist working in the fields of dance and expanded choreography. Their work is concerned with questions surrounding the displaced body and what it can perform. Characterized by hybridity and syncretism, their practice engages with oral histories, ancestral epistemologies and the representation of (auto)biographies, particularly among the contexts of island Southeast Asia. A member of the inaugural artistic cohort at the Rose Choreographic School (Sadler’s Wells, London) their transdisciplinary work has been presented at Tanzfabrik Berlin, Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), DOK Leipzig and the Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art (Sydney). They live between Singapore and Berlin.

  • An older dancer in an ornate gold-and-red outfit sits on a fabric-covered platform, while another person sits beside her on the floor. Both wear elements of traditional clothing and look calmly toward the camera.
    © Asarela Orchidia Dewi
  • A person sits casually against the turquoise studio backdrop, wearing a black blazer, a white shirt, and a gold-patterned sarong. Their gaze is direct and calm toward the camera.
    © Asarela Orchidia Dewi
  • An older dancer stands barefoot in front of a turquoise studio backdrop, wearing a traditional Indonesian outfit in red and gold. She holds a red cloth gracefully to the side and looks forward with focus.
    © Asarela Orchidia Dewi