Avenue of the cosmonauts

'Avenue of the Cosmonauts' is the story of a sort of universal family as portrayed in dance by Sasha Waltz & Guests. The film is based on a theatrical production. Entertaining and visually stimulating, this debut film from Berlin choreographer Sasha Waltz, conjures up a surreal dream dance of family life, at once grotesque, cinematic and amusing. Inventing the 'dance soap', it was her artistic breakthrough, and the cornerstone of a meteoric career. The film is a fresh and irreverent dance of everyday life in the East Berlin apartment blocks. With humour and a keen eye for the grotesque of everyday life, Waltz, together with a young and dedicated ensemble, has liberated herself from the false nostalgia for the former East and the false hopes of the 'promised land'. Amongst refridgerators and IKEA shelving units, TV set and end tables, she pulls a microcosmos of everyday banalities out of the closet and onto centre stage. There is wit in the editing and precise observation in the movement. This video effects are sparingly but effectively used, and the charm of the story comes from the lovingly worked out details. It's a creative new beginning for the old, chewed-over relationship between theatre and television, deserving of notice and kindling a desire to see more such run-ins between those friendly enemies.