Photo: © Lys Y Seng
Premiere 7 Nov 2025 — EinTanzHaus Mannheim
How do memory, identity and origin take shape in the present? And what form do they take when they become visible in dance? With Doisri, Jonas Frey and COTA projects present a performance in which dance, sound and language merge into a moving whole, as personal memories meet broader social questions.
Photo: © Lys Y Seng
"A small masterpiece of thoughtfulness."
Birgit Karg · Die Rheinpfalz, 11 November 2025 (translated from German)
The title Doisri carries central meaning. In Sranan Tongo, the creole language spoken in Suriname, "Doisri/Doysri" is a shortened form of "Doysrikondre" and means "German." The term marked the childhood of Jonas Frey's father in the Copieweg internment camp in Suriname — an ascription that carried connotations of origin, otherness and power all at once. Following the biographical trace of his father, whose interview about his time in Suriname — as one of many personal stories — is shown at the Verzetsmuseum in Amsterdam, an artistic search for identity and memory has emerged. Jonas Frey explores the tension between individual experience and collective perception, asking through performative metaphors what "being German" can mean today.
In Doisri, personal memories meet questions of collective concern. Rather than telling a linear story, the performance unfolds in fragments: how do memory and identity take shape in a danced present? Movement, sound, imagery, narration and words weave into a web of sensory impressions. The piece's shifting structure opens space for audiences to bring their own reflection and interpretation.
Doisri invites audiences to question their own memories, images and ascriptions. The piece makes tangible that memory is not a fixed state — but something that moves, changes, and must continually be told anew.
A production by COTA projects, funded by the State Association of Independent Dance and Theatre Artists Baden-Württemberg (Landesverband Freie Tanz- und Theaterschaffende Baden-Württemberg e. V.), the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and the Cultural Office of the City of Mannheim. In cooperation with EinTanzHaus Mannheim, in residency with La Cap Re|Hub, research residency at Tanzhaus Zürich. Made possible through the residency programme of the Réseau GRAND LUXE network and the special support of the dance division of Theater Freiburg.
Jonas Frey is a contemporary street-style dancer, choreographer and dance educator based in Mannheim, rooted in hip-hop culture. Together with Julie Pécard and Julia Headley, he founded COTA projects in 2025 as a platform for creation and collaboration.
More about Jonas Frey →
info@jonas-frey.com
+49 179 795 2005
Mannheim, Germany