GLOBALFOUNDRIES edging towards 20nm

Dresden, 2012-03-13 #DATE12

Mojy Chian, Senior Vice President Design Enablement at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, and Antun Domic, Senior Vice President and General Manager of synopsys gave a short press conference on the sideline of the ongoing DATE12 (Design, Automation & Test in Europe) this evening for a multinational press audience.

The main topic was the past and ongoing cooperation between the two companies, especially the  implementation of the forthcoming 20nm-technology, to be expected roughly coming to mass production around 2014, as Mr. Chian mentioned. He also mentioned, that cycles of new technologies roughly being in a 4-year-frame, with CPU producers being the earliest and most demanding customers, next to following mobile application producers. In order to get the ramp up smooth and in accelerated pace, once the technology is set for mass production the cooperation with chip designers, and testing facilities such as synopsys are essential. From the technology information given by the customer the design phase (including testing) is the most relevant part in the value chain, before manufacturing in large scale can begin.

Presently roughly 500 engineers work at GLOBALFOUNDRIES -scattered all around the three plants in Malta, USA, Dresden, Germany, to Singapore, and other facilities around the Globe- using remote work environments using the virtual collaboration tools the Web provides (and in which often chips from GLOBALFOUNDRIES can be found). The aim is, as Mr. Chian and Mr. Domic stressed to work on more and more standardized information technology formats, in order to make automated design, and testing easier. "As there are 1.001, no 1 Mio + 1 things to be in place", Mojy Chian mentioned, and almost made the room laugh, "it is crucial to work to together early on in the process."

EUVL tool, Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory
(Wikipedia)

During the hour there came up the question on whether the EUV (Extreme ultraviolet lithography), which opens future chances, yet brings along quite some challenges that are not easy to overcome in short time, so it will not be applied for the forthcoming 20nm-technology, as Mr. Chian pointed out. He also stressed, that in context of the ongoing collaboration with synopsys "the amount of creativity what has been applied has been incredible", and there will be routes to be found that will tackle the upcoming challenges.

What we all could take from that hour is that chip design & manufacturing clearly define a next level in collaborative iterative learning, as ramping up of new production nears, and GLOBALFOUNDRIES and synopsys could very well be new role models in the context of "Lean Thinking".

Ein William Forsythe Ballettabend

by Angela Incampo & Ralf Lippold

The Premiere, and so just one performance, of 'Ein William Forsythe Ballettabend' at Semperoper was not enough. A new attendance as a follow-up performance was needed to understand and appreciate the choreografies created by the great choreogrepher Forsythe, and brought on stage by an always incredible ballet company, such as the Semperoper Ballet truly is. Everybody probably knows that Aaron S. Watkin is a former Forsythe dancer, and therefore more than every other ballet director can understand the difficulties, the efforts, and the great concentration these pieces require.

In a completely full theater (so full has been the Premiere as well) the music starts and the curtain rises. On stage the whole company starts with "Artifact Suite" a piece already performed to Semperoper's audience last spring in 2011 within a variation rich, and not thematic programme. Last spring the ballet company was asked to dance a classical piece (George Balanchine - 'Emeralds'), and two modern pieces (Mats Ek - 'She was black', and William Forsythe - 'Artifact Suite'). In this occation, the Ballett Company proved again their ability to switch from a classical piece to a modern piece and the dancing maturity they are capable to put on stage (for more information, here the relevant links to the articles). Not many companies are able to perfectly combine the movements typical of classical dance with those required by modern dance.

Photographer: Costin Radu

"Artifact Suite" on music by Eva Crossman-Hecht and Johann Sebastian Bach, is an extremely beautiful piece. The green-coloured costumes of all the dancers are interrupted by the white-coloured suit of one single dancer, Vanja Vitman. She is the guide, she controls all movements of the Corps de Ballet and sometimes also the two dancing couples performing the pas-de-deux (Elena Vostrotina with Oleg Klymyuk, and Yumiko Takeshima with Raphäel Coumes-Marquet). She is the master who "leads the puppets", helped by a big lightspot. She decides when they have to move, and when they have to stand moveless. Homogeneity and heterogenity are both performed. The whole ballet company is involved in this huge choreography. The lack of coordination among the dances in some scenes and the strong coordination in other scenes are wildly interrupted by the curtain falling continuosly down. Is what we see performed on stage, the lack of co-ordination we experience in our daily life as personal individuals, and as members of the society? Is it a clear sign of the difficulties we always meet? A smooth life, with the different seasons coming quietly one after the other finds no room in today's human life. Also the movements, sometimes so slow and sometime so fast, mirror the current times.

Photographer: Costin Radu

William Forsythe has created and new arranged, expressly for the Semperoper Ballet, the second piece "New Suite". On music by Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Sebastian Bach, Luciano Berio, Gavin  Bryars, Thom Willems are brought on stage, one after the other, seven couples (Chantelle Kerr* with Claudio Cangilosi*, Elena Vostrotina with Oleg Klymyuk, Julia Weiss and István Simon, Anna Merkulova and Jiří Bubeníček, Duosi Zhu and Pavel Moskito, Yumiko Takeshima with Raphaël Coumes-Marquet, Anna Merkulova and Jón Vallejo). The costumes, for this second piece are plain and perfectly co-ordinated between the dancing couples. No curtain falls down to interrupt the scene. The stage is completely free. They can perform in an open-space, in movements of pure harmony and disharmony, shaping the relationship between the sexes, expecially on Berio's music.

The third and last piece is "Enemy in the figure". The whole choreography is illuminated by a big spotlight free to be moved around on stage (a main figure on stage, as it gives more or less emphasis to the scene). The spotlight is continuously moved around by the dancers according to their internal needs. A rope cuts the stage in two and so does also a wavelike wooden wall, that "hides" the sight on what's happening behind it. Depending on the position in the audience, one gets a totally different picture of the scene, and what is visible from one side, appears invisible from another position. Very much in flow with reality, that can differ vastly from your own position, and perspective - seeing reality is not what one sees on the surface.

Photographer: Costin Radu

The dancers (Chantelle Kerr*, Raquel Martinez, Anna Merkulova*,  Ana Presta, Elena Vostrotina, Julia Weiss, Jiří Bubeníček*, Claudio Cangialosi, Raphaël Coumes-Marquet, Maximilian Genov*, Fabien Voranger) wear totally white, totally black or white and black (pierrot-like) costumes. Looking at the dancers moving on stage and hearing the rough music, the viewer can physically feel the dichotomy on stage. The dancers movements are strong. They cut through the air like sharp knives, they seem forced to move by some unseen force, acting like under fever. They restlessly try to free themselves from a force that is hosted inside themselves, deep in their bodies, and in their souls. Their fast movements show the need to re-create the lost balance, the harmony between all parts. The elements on stage (rope and wooden wall) are a clear further sign of the dichotomy the dancers are living in. All metallic and rough sounds, the dissonances are created ad hoc - very strongly in need!

Also in this piece the difficulty to live a quiet life can be seen; the forces that move our souls and our bodies, and that keep us away from acting in free-will. The desperate search for peace in all different moments of life, private and public, is strongly threatened by the difficulty to find the right balance between being our true selves, and play our roles according to the "outer world". The dancers are merely a mirror of our own experiences, so strong that sometimes people in the audience are overwhelmed, like the couple sitting beside us, leaving the house after 'Artifact Suite'.

Yet the creative process overwhelms the conformity every time. People like conformity in the sense of stability, which makes life easier, and yet everyone of us has experienced the moment when we move out to the edges, performing different due to our own thinking, and will to express thoughts.

A great power can be seen in the modern dance and especially in William Forsythe's choreographies. In opposite to classical dance and choreographers, a major pillar in dance history and dance movements, modern dance empowers each single viewer to discover in the pieces a meaning, an idea that in classical ballet is not possible to see (being the audience guided step by step through the execution of the piece).
In modern ballet, the audience is free to give pace to the own ideas, reflections and comparison with personal and social situation. Modern pieces are not fairy tales made to let people dream, they are a door opened into the inner soul and into the society soul.

A performance that really deserve to be seen!

* - Dancers on the picture beside; more pictures to be seen on Semperoper.
To explain the role of art and artist we recommend the following article by Edgar Schein.

William Forsythe - Synonym of Modern Ballet in Dresden

Last Saturday 'Ein William Forsythe Abend' premiered at Semperoper Dresden with the extraordinary team of a company, its artistic director, Aaron S. Watkin, can be more than proud:

Semperoper Ballett

Two of its dancers, Istvan Simon and Ian Whalen, can not only be seen on stage bringing the emotions, they are also the video outreach (check out the Semperoper YouTube Channel) and photographs (currently all around the city of Dresden - please indicate the positions where to see in this interactive map [posters have been taken down, so this will be the blank space for the next run]).


"Ein William Forsythe Abend" - Plakate in Dresden auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

In case you missed the performance on Saturday there more to come, next one on (look here).

A very short (and very personal) review in the PresencingStatus format (4 short questions):

Good? A most amazing evening; Getting the last two tickets available; enjoying 2.5 hrs of joy and fun; learning more about William Forsythe's work; enjoying modern ballet once again (after 'Nutcracker' before Christmas);

Tricky? Separated from girlfriend who was seated on ground floor (myself on 4th floor);

Learned? A ballet performance is always unique (going several times to the same only enriches your view on seeing, and experiencing different emotions); modern performances are in Dresden as much appreciated as traditional performances;

Action? Planning to go (at least) once more

.... will we see you at next performances? [On TWITTER follow #Semperoper to get latest, and globally spanne]

The Future Better Than we Could Even Imagine

We live in a world overwhelmed by myriads of news, which are mostly related to the scarcity of resources, either money, workforce or raw materials effecting our existence, worldwide. Lots of our time, attention and energy are absorbed by these news, and by the idea of an uncertain future.

What does the current reality tell us? Is it merely a mirror of the current mental models used by the world's leaders, policy makers, bankers, and citizens? What might be the underlying root causes?

In Peter Diamandis' and Steven Kotler's forthcoming new book "Abundance - THE FUTURE IS BETTER THAN YOU THINK" (release will be 21st, February 2012) the first chapter (which is free to download for the interested minds) starts with a most interesting story about Gaius Plinius Cecilius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder. "In one of his later volumes, Earth, book XXXV, Pliny tells the story of a goldsmith who brought an unusual dinner plate to the court of Emperor Tiberius. The plate was a stunner, made from a new metal, very light, shiny, almost bright as silver." - It turned out that this was aluminum. Only the goldsmith was ordered to be cut a head shorter, as Emperor Tiberius feared the decline of his gold treasures, once this new metal would be out on the market. The knowledge about the metal, and the production process was then forgotten for almost two millennia.

What appears like a pretty distant connection between today, and the above story about the goldsmith however brings up similar patterns of behavior: once new technologies make the scarcity of resources become more abundant then in the present, the ruling class clings to the old behaviors.

Yet, times have changed dramatically. Millions of "Pliniuses" in the coat of bloggers, tweeters or boundary spanners spread the knowledge of new technologies, and disruptive innovations to any corner of the world in almost split of a second. The information technology era which had been mainly fueled by the work of Jay W. Forrester (inventor of the RAM, Patent US2736880) working at Lincoln Labs, MIT, Cambridge, on the Whirlwind Project, has enabled the "information age" of the past decades. This is now evolving into a "connected knowledge age", which most of us have not really been exposed yet.

"Abundance" tells the story of unleashing people's creative potential around the globe, despite their social status, age, education, and other boundaries in the knowledge flows into reality. Exponentially accelerating information technology (1) supports the possibilities of Do-it-yourself (DIY) (2) especially as 3D-printing becomes widely available, biotech labs in the living room, and social network tools are connecting the already connected people on the WorldWideWeb. Emerging generations of tech philantropists (3), like Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others who earn a fortune in their early life, using it then to play out their inner visions, making the world a better place.

Yet what really makes the difference is that billions of new users of the internet ("The Rising Billion") (4) will come into the global "innovation game". Someone who never before had a chance to connect to the global knowledge now is able to connect to like-minded ones not just across the street, rather across the planet. Mobile computing, and the downsizing of devices, power consumption ("Cool Silicon" a Dresden-based cluster researching the decrease of energy consumption) as well as increasing the calculating power, and data storage facility.

Coming back to my first lines, I strongly believe that we are just on the edge of huge transformational change which impacts all aspects of life in a way, not many have experienced yet. And best of all we have all the tools, concepts, theories that may help us all together making this dream become reality. It will include a much broader basis of people around the globe, including the ones who are not yet part of globally connected society as Tiffany Shlain has so beautifully made a movie "A Declaration of Interdependence" - The future is better than we think :)

'Lulu' - Der Zirkus des Lebens

... noch ganz frisch sind die Eindrücke der Premiere von 'Lulu' (hier auch die Handlung in aller Kürze nachzulesen) von Alban Berg in der Inszenierung von Stefan Herheim (er hatte bereits die Inszenierung der 'Rusalka' in der vergangenen Spielzeit in farbenprächtiger Weise vorgenommen) - das Abendprogramm des letzten Samstag in der Semperoper.

Sonntags zuvor waren an Semper 2 bei der Einführungsmatinee zu 'Lulu' von Regisseur Stefan Herheim und Cornelius Meister, der die musikalische Leitung inne hatte, einige erklärende Hintergründe zum Stück, der Musik und der Geschichte dargelegt worden. (Persönlicher Tip für den Opernneuling und auch den "alten Hasen" - Einführungsmatineen lohnen den Besuch stets, denn erstens erfährt man Infos zum Stück aus erster Hand und die Gelegenheit des persönlichen Gesprächs mit den Machern besteht, um eigene Fragen loszuwerden).

Foto: Matthias Creutziger

Bei komplexen und auch teilweise "schockierend" anmutenden Inszenierungen wie 'Lulu' ist es stets bereichernd, den kurzen Artikel 'The Role of Art and the Artist' von Edgar Schein, emeritierter Professor am Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT) für Organisationspsychologie, mit seinen fünf Grundaussagen als Grundlage über die Rolle der Künstler bzw. Kunst für die persönliche Reflexion heran zu ziehen.

• First, art and artists stimulate us to see more, hear more, and experience more of what is going on within us and around us.
• Second, art does and should disturb, provoke, shock, and inspire.
• Third, the artist can stimulate us to broaden our skills, our behavioral repertory, and our flexibility of response
• Fourth, the role of the arts and artists is to stimulate and legitimize our own aesthetic sense.
• Fifth, analysis of how the artist is trained and works can produce important insights into what is needed to perform and what it means to lead and manage.

"Verehrtes Publikum - Hereinspaziert!" - so beginnt mit den Worten des Tierbändigers der Prolog, und einer vielschichtigen, psychologisch komplexen Geschichte, deren Dreh- und Angelpunkt Lulu ist. Sie ist -wie sich erst während der kommenden vier (kurzweiligen) Stunden herausstellen sollte- eine Frau, die die Männer sich zum Spielball macht und selbst am Ende "gekickt" wird.

Foto: Matthias Creutziger

Gisela Stille, schwedische Sopranistin und perfekte Besetzung für die Rolle der Lulu, verkörpert das "blonde Gift". Ihre Stimme und Spiel zog von Anfang an das Premierenpublikum in ihren Bann - spielerisch balancierend zwischen Ernsthaftigkeit und frivolem Freilufttheater. Eine Sängerin von der man noch öfters in Deutschland hören wird, dies ist sicher.

Stefan Herheim lädt das Publikum zu einer aufregenden Reise ein, und sie hat es in sich. Seine Inszenierungen zeigen stets eine überbordende Vielfalt von Handlungsstränge und -ebenen, so wie es in unserem Leben auch passiert. Mehr als sich in einem Artikel darstellen lässt und auch der Besuch des Stückes in seiner zeitlichen Begrenztheit ermöglicht. Je länger das Geschehen vor dem geistigen Auge und den ergänzenden Informationen durch das Textbuch und das Internet Gestalt annimmt, desto eindringlicher werden die Verbindungsstränge von der Zirkusmanege in die uns umgebende Realität.

Die Sächsische Staatskapelle und Cornelius Meister als musikalischer Leiter setzten ein perfektes "Stück Arbeit" um, dieser Oper die richtige Intensität zu geben. Es war nicht so einfach, das Orchester sowie die Sänger auf Grundlage der (unüblichen) Zwölftontechnik zu dirigieren, wie Cornelius Meister bei der Einführungsmatinee betont hatte. Alles hat wunderbar geklappt.

Ein kaleidoskopisches Leben - voll von Erfahrungen, Emotionen, Personen, unerwarteten Aktionen, zu viel, um es auf einmal zu verarbeiten und gleichzeitig genau so, was das Leben jeden Tag für uns bietet. Oft benötigen wir Aufmerksamkeit (Mindfulness), um die dynamischen Zusammenhänge innerhalb der vor uns geschehenden Handlung zu erkennen, die einzeln scheinenden Ereignisse zusammenfügen. Das Leben scheint schrill, voller Überraschungen (so stirbt im 1. Akt Lulus Ehemann Medizinalrat Dr. Goll an einem Herzinfarkt als dieser Lulu und den Maler Walter Schwarz nach seinem eigenen Einbruch ins Atelier überrascht), und schon öffnen sich durch solche unmöglich geglaubten Ereignisse plötzlich "Türen" ganz neuer Möglichkeiten. Doch ist Lulu erst einmal dem  Glauben, dass es immer weiter nach oben geht erlegen. Nicht nur sie auch die übrigens Protagonisten heischen dem Hype der Jungfrauaktien und des eigenen Erfolgs hinterher, höher, schneller, reicher - auch dass der Absturz umso heftiger erfolgt. Es erinnert schon ein wenig an die seit 2008 eklatant präsente Finanzkrise, die Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft noch immer stärker in ihren Fängen hat, als wir dies persönlich wahr haben möchten. Ganz ähnlich wie die zahlreichen Männer, die durch Lulus Hände gelaufen sind, und die nicht merkten, wie sie lediglich benutzt worden sind und den Blick für die Realität verloren. Zu sehr beruht unser Handeln auf kurzfristig und sichtbar getriggerten Mentalen Modelen, d.h. Mustern, wie wir das Leben um uns herum wahrnehmen, und die oft komplexen dynamischen Verbindungen "ausblenden".

Im Textheft heißt es an einer Stelle: "Die Welt als Zirkus". Man erwartet, zum Lachen gebracht zu werden (wie immer beim Zirkus). Es scheint aber nicht wirklich so zu sein, eher ein surreales Vexierbild des realen Lebens, das uns als Publikum auf der Bühne vorgehalten wird. Der Zirkus ist wie eine Maske, die man anzieht, genau wie bei Pierrot. Hinter der verstecken sich viele schmerzliche Tränen. Diese Idee kommt immer wieder in 'Lulu' vor. Die Clowns (Lulus verblichene Liebhaber) spielen eine Rolle, die man von ihnen nicht erwarten würde.

Abschließend in aller Kürze :

Was war gut? Eine komplexe und vielschichtige Operninszenierung, die an Fragen und Anknüpfungspunkten an die tatsächlich real vom Publikum erlebten Geschehnisse nichts zu wünschen übrig lässt; Gisela Stille, die die Vielschichtigkeit der Lulu in besonderer Weise spielerisch, singend und sprechend in eindrucksvoll verkörperte; diese Oper verspricht das gesellschaftliche Gespräch über die unausgesprochenen Themen in der Gesellschaft (Lulus finden sich an den unterschiedlichsten Ebenen und Ecken der Gesellschaft, nicht nur als sexhungrig, sondern auch machthungrig); das Produktionsteam, das einen wundervollen traumhaften Job getan hat, dieses Stück auf die Bühne zu zaubern;

Was war tricky? Der verarbeitete Stoff dieser vielschichtigen Oper, die nicht nur die oft ungewöhnlich klingende "Zwölftonmusik" nutzte, sondern auch die Komplexität gesellschaftlicher Umbruchzeiten in den 20er und 30er Jahren gekonnt darstellte (ein Besuch ist bei Weitem nicht ausreichend); blutrünstige und frivole Szene, die definitiv so manchen Besucher irritiert haben mögen (doch Oper ist oft mit Mord und Totschlag verbunden, nur dass wir es selten so deutlich vor Augen geführt bekommen, wie in dieser Inszenierung -

Was war zu lernen? Lulu weiß nicht, welche Rolle sie im Leben spielt, für sie sind alle Männer lediglich große Spielzeuge, die man wegwirft, wenn man sie nicht mehr braucht; Emotionen aushalten, auch wenn man wie im 2. Akt nicht sofort die komplette Handlung in allen Einzelheiten entschlüsselt (wie auch durch zahlreiche Gespräche mit Gästen in der Pause zu erfahren war), und sich in Ruhe und entspannter Aufmerksamkeit vor dem geistigen Auge die Ereignisse auf der Bühne Revue passieren lassen; sich stets fragen, "Was ist der Kontext gewesen, aus welchem der Komponist diese Oper geschrieben hat?"; neues Lernen entsteht wenn man Emotionen positiv nutzt (auch wenn es auf der Bühne frivol und blutrünstig vor sich geht); in bestehenden Gesellschaften spielen Masken bislang (noch immer) eine größere Rolle als die Authentizität und Verletzbarkeit der Personen; Hilfe muss erfragt und auch angenommen werden können (insbesondere in heutigen multivernetzten Gesellschaften und der Beschleunigung von Veränderungen im gesellschaftlichen und wirtschaftlichen Umfeld ist das eine künftige notwendige Fähigkeit von Entscheidern, Managern, Künstlern und allgemein Bürgern) - ansonsten kann es zum Komplettabsturz kommen;

Next Action? Ein weiterer Besuch dieser aufrührenden Oper mit weiteren entstandenen Fragen, deren Beantwortung eine aufmerksame Beobachtung möglicherweise in erhellendes Licht getaucht werden kann; lassen wir uns überraschen; mehr zu Alban Berg erfahren (insbesondere den Zusammenhang zu Karl Amadeus Hartmann 'Simplicius Simplicissimus' erhellen, der im Herbst 2011 mit Valda Wilson in der Hauptrolle an der Semperoper zu erleben war).

Weitere Rezensionen im Web:

Boris Michael Gruhl, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten
Heiko Schon, Kultura-Extra
Maria Romo, A little bit of opera
Dr. Jürgen Helfricht, Bildzeitung Dresden

... sun over the Baltic Sea is arising

... and so the thoughts on what will happen in Dresden in the coming months, years. Back in 1993 when I first visited Dresden-Hellerau, a real innovation pillar close to  Dresden, though not really recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit for decades, the idea was set on fire in my head.


"Couldn't that be possible to reignite such drive as the godfathers of Hellerau and the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau had done a century ago?"


Listening to RichardFlorida in an interview with JimGoodnight, CEO of SAS, a couple of years ago on his topic of research "The Creative Class", further fueled my imagined vision of Hellerau 2.0.

Staying up here (writing these lines in the days of June 2010 right after the 4th Dresdner Future Forum) in the North of Germany, just a couple of miles from the coast of the Baltic Sea, my brain gets a chance to reset. The quietness of the day and vastness of view outside the porch windows makes me think about what it needs to make the "fire of ideas" go into a broad and sustainable one.

Perhaps we don't really have to reinvent new things rather combine current and already put down research and innovate the future of work and living.


Wouldn't that be cool? I have seen my fellow friends up in Jyväskylä, Finland, who have set up a network around MonkeyBusiness and their folks of TeamAcademy and stayed myself twice up there to entrench the feeling personally. Telling stories is one thing, experiencing it yourself is by far the much cooler way.


So, the question stays, "What to do next? Who are the other stakeholders, who are needed to make the change happen?"


Professor Richard Florida has identified five tactics.

1. Pay up. "People want work that's challenging, but money matters. Even college graduates won't take a differential to live in a cheaper place."
2. Outdo the competition. "Make your space the hippest one around. Your building and your environment show off who you are."
3. Take the guy with the tattoos seriously. " Top talent -- especially young recruits -- revel in their differentness. That new hire with full-on metal in his ears may be the best thing that ever happened to you. He's a visual cue that you've got an open house for talent, no matter what form it comes in."
4. Hire his boyfriend. (Or help him get a job down the street.) "Our research shows that same-sex partner benefits are intrinsically related to your company's success. It's the number-one indicator that your culture is inclusive."
5. Invade the backwaters. "Top talent isn't just found at Berkeley, MIT, and Stanford. There are plenty of great people hidden away in the backwaters."

Guess what? This place can be Dresden in the far Eastern part (not quite the ultimate Eastern part) of Germany. Quite a challenge to reach by train (2.5 hours from Berlin), by plane (not too many regular flights into the foreign world, other than charter) and yet this makes a really cool place. Not easy to reach and an awesome setting (on the river Elbe, with the Saxonian Swiss nearby and cool people all around - ask them and they will tell you more :-)).

Where do you see the future of work and life (in your own context)?

Bold Minds Change the World

It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.

- Charles van der Haegen

The Maya Code is here!

I have always been fascinated by the history of the Maya civilization, by their huge baggage of knowledge in so many different fields and by all concerns their existence. Today, for the first time in my life I saw with my own eyes the better preserved Maya code. I had no idea that such an important treasure is hosted here in Europe and exactly in the beautiful city of Dresden (Germany).

Of the three existing Maya codes (the Madrid Code, the Dresden Code and the Paris Code), the Dresden Code is not only the better preserved but it is also the most elaborated and a highly important work of art. The code, written in a long sheet of paper, in total 39 leaves written on both sides, was probably written before the Spanish conquest.

This code, shows many half-human and half-animal figures in different moments of their daily life. They have in their hands tools and wear jewels and ornaments. Some of these figures are showed in colored panels. All around the figures it is to be seen the Maya hieroglyphic script, tons of small images about rituals (almanacs) and astrology, especially the Venus Cycle, (the full Venus Cycle is clearly shown in the Dresden Code). Venus has been the most observed planet, as the Maya believed it to be associated with wars and started their wars according to the Venus cycles.

Great importance was, however, given also to the observation of other planets such as Jupiter, Mars and Saturn and to the moon. The Maya elaborated a carefully moon calendar and a lunar reckoning. Their lunar knowledge was so impressive that the Maya were able to make eclipse predictions. An almanac for predicting eclipses can be seen in the Dresden Code too, together with detailed information on the planet Mars. The Maya tracked the movements of Mars across the zodiac and the relation between its movements and the terrestrial seasons. This lead them delineate a clear map of naked eye sky watching.

It has been an exciting voyage into a past civilization that is still present in our everyday life.

..... on the edge to 2012

The last couple of years - moving back to Dresden, due to the pull of hidden entrepreneurial power - have been quite a roller coaster for me, and personal life.

While starting to write these lines, as a reflection on the happenings in 2011, and an outlook into 2012, I think, "Should I really write in English? What about my German friends, especially here in Dresden, who are not as exposed as myself to English speaking folks?". Doubts come up only for a split second, as 90% of my personal network is based outside the city where I live. The Web has enabled the connections, and so will the tools for people to translate into their own language - so it will be English in the first place.

I'd like to start off with a question by my dear friend, mentor, inspirator (out of the blue at a Scottish campfire in summer 2008 to be quite honest) Ville from MonkeyBusiness.

Copyright: http://antjelippold.com

"What do you want to achieve?"

The answer is quite spontaneous, and on a slip of paper that I keep since the leadership workshop IGNITION 2009 at TeamAcademy. It says, "Provide a learning place for people to play to their strengths." (currently "sitting" in Edgar Schein's "HELPING - HOW TO OFFER, GIVE, AND RECEIVE HELP - Understanding Effective Dynamics in One-to-One, Group, and Organizational Relationships"

On 14th of January, 2009 I wrote down these words, and confirmed them via a phone call from Finland to a dear friend, and former colleague at BMW - ever since I am working on the vision, even though it is not always easy to stay on track getting feedback in the most diminishing form from friends, potential employers, or institutions like my former university HTW Dresden, to which I own a great deal of my bold stepping forward into unknown, unconquered territory of learning, and working collaboratively.

I'd like to use the five questions from the new "MonkeyBook" created by MonkeyBusiness to frame the past, and the lookout to the future:

Where have I been?

Early in 2011 I learned that Semperoper Ballett resonated in many ways of what my dreams are made of, interaction of people from a multi-diverse cultural background, working on a shared vision, in a given place, to bring up new forms of expressing current reality (society, research, human dynamics, leadership, craftsmanship, interplay, collective learning, open education, ..). After "loosing" Dresden's 1st CoWorking space to a web agency late in 2010, I learned that using existing models of practice, and observing, writing about it can create a quite different "Power of Pull". Going to ballet and opera performances (mostly at last-minute) is for me like a workshop investment - I never know what I take from it. I let myself always get surprised what emerges, and how my emotions, memories, and connections in real-life come up.

In spring I had to quite my journey as an entrepreneur, offering process consultation, and lean thinking for all kinds of organizationally troubled processes (where one doesn't want, or have extra financial, manpower, or time resources). For me that was like a shock that I -at first- couldn't get really over. Only after many (non-helpful) tries to involve people with marketing, and selling capabilities I decided to "quit" this form of earning money, looking for a paid job.

A sunny morning in June brought a phone call in, which I thought would be from somewhere around Darmstadt, only to learn after seconds into the conversation that it was Annalie, AKA maverickwoman, from Sydney, which turned out to be a one-week trip to Australia (Sydney & Melbourne). This week was one of the most intense times ever in my life - 60 hours of flight, 2 conferences, 2 cities, 7 days in Australia, uncountable learning experiences - especially the two days in Melbourne have shaken my life since then.

Coming back from Australia friends in my network told me over and over, "You have to move to the Valley! You are too fast for Dresden!". So one day I took Alex Lightman's ideas to heart, phoned the German Californian Chamber of Commerce, and asked about what to do in order to get a work permit for the Valley. Only turned out that I was rerouted to Germany to discuss matters in detail. Oh, that was not what I intended to hear. The idea popped up of doing a three-week promotion tour for Saxony and Dresden on my own, visiting all my contacts in the Valley, and write about it. Only write? No pictures, video, would be better! A friend, Daniel Scholz, just online on Facebook - a photographer. So I asked him, whether he would be interested to join. Yes! In minutes the idea was laid out, some further ideas, and advice by Alex, and off it went the adventure: InnoBay.

August in Dresden, hot, lots of tourists - and having no internet at home. Where to go? Starbucks, where free WiFi and a decent cup of coffee makes it an enjoyable place to be. What I learned there: the WORLD is pouring through the doors, as the day goes by. Many cultures, languages, known foreign faces from the Semperoper, friends to meet - sometimes by serendipity. Should that be the time to reboot something that had a legacy already? The OpenCoffeeClubDresden, now also http://twitter.com/occDD

Where am I now?

Too be quite frank - deaccelerated a bit, focusing on OpenCoffeeClubDresden, and what emerges from it. It seems to create the place where people are drawn into -even though there is no agenda. The PresencingStatus with its four short questions (1. Good? 2. Tricky? 3. Learned? 4. Next action?) after each gathering seems to work to understand more about each other's thinking during the two-hour meetings.

Another eight hours to go until 2012 - looking forward relaxed, and open minded on what will happen in the days to come.

Where would I like to go?


Here the space for my next goals of 2012

1. Becoming a respected tech scout & blogger in residence for forthcoming conferences around the globe, connecting Saxony/ Dresden with the world
2. Develop OpenCoffeeClubDresden as an international incubator for social change in Dresden, self-sustained by sponsors, and having a place of its own (Café DUESENBERG up on Königsbrücker Straße would be very suitable for the start; pictures were from a presentation back in 2010 when café was still in operation; presently abandoned)
3. Attend the 5th Dresden Future Forum with a session, and seeing my friends from Monkey Business as facilitators for change, as well 
4. Flying out to Abu Dbabi on building the ties between Saxony and Abu Dhabi around technology, arts, and education on the emerging future (supporting Semperoper Ballett on their spring tour to Abu Dhabi)
5. Attending GSP-12 in the summer at Singularity University
6. Starting off with Dresden Innovation Nights to accelerate startup eco-system in the region to spread across the globe.
7. Co-create Mobile Camp Dresden 2012 (and connect with international tech startup community)
8. Show Transcendent Man at Technical University's Audimax
9. Creating the HighTech(x)Agency (working title), attracting, supporting and building up the international tech startup, and research community in Dresden with strong ties into the world
10. LockSchuppenOpening - the official kickstart of LockSchuppen
11. Doing a SiliconValley - SiliconSaxony Promotion tour as proto
12. Working on bringing TEDxDresden into being in summer 2012 (!) - in the midst of Dresden's special year 2012 - Arts and Science in collaboration with stARTcamp Dresden
13. Writing an article at Sinnwirtschaft (on invite by Marc Flint)
14. Bringing out my blog articles about Semperoper as a small booklet in print (already in talk with publisher and Semperoper) - yet one question crosses my mind, "Does the world need a printed version of such?" [Answering for my own, I'd say, "Yes!"]
15. Workshop(s) for entrepreneurs/startups emerging into the global community via social tools, scaling at ease the quality of their products (doing more with less) at my former university, HTW Dresden.
16. Hosting the Dresden screening of "Connected the Film"in close cooperation with director Tiffany Shlain, having translated it with the help of the crowd with German subtitles
17. ...... on the sideline there are many more smaller projects in the making
18. ... and a few bold life-long ones!

How do I get there?

One step (or minor project at a time)

How do I know I am there?

When reality hits my shaped over time vision in mind, and the two match.

As a final comment I'd like to add my PresencingStatus for 2011 with the four short questions

1. Good

Got to know the most amazing woman (also an opera, and ballet lover); quit my consultancy, to start all over from scratch; took the opportunity, and accepted the invitation to Sydney in June; restarted the OpenCoffeeClubDresden which opened new connections in town; showed twice TranscendentMan in small friends circle; two pretty filled-up session around TranscendentMan issues at MobileCamp 2011; became Semperoper most active blogger, and almost only social media active guy

2. Tricky

To not find clients to run my beloved business consulting (around lean thinking, and organizational design, which I am both very passionate about); to live from Hartz IV (social welfare one would call it elsewhere); being too fast paced thinking in an environment (currently) dependent on government funding in large part; not bringing InnoBay, Dresden Innovation Nights, and conference blogging/ tweeting into life as I imagine to happen; tweeting/ facebooking around a lot of different topics which irritates often people

3. Learned

Hold back with ideas (their time will come, and you will be pulled into it); be fast in groups that are not directly connected to local friends, colleagues, potential clients, slow down the communication speed when necessary; OpenCoffeeClubDresden has emerged as a learning opportunity around group communication dynamics (actually to all participants I believe); be mindful and listen, and see what is going on around you, the right people will connect with you sooner, or later

4. Action

Let the new year come up, and work on the points above, as I have been doing before! And focus even stronger on the process of dialogue as learned from my dear friends from Monkey Business.

What are your personal answers to the Four Short Questions (on 2011, or let's say New Year's Day 2012)?

Cultures Accelerate their Uniqueness at Semperoper

Most of the readers of this blog by now have probably noticed that I love to write about the local opera house, Semperoper. Traditionally orchestra performances, operas, and ballets are the repertoire of the house - yet this one is certainly different.

Since the new intendant, Dr. Ulrike Hessler, and certainly already under its former intendant Prof. Gerd Ueker a new wind of change (in German) is weighing through the building that looks older than it truly is (only last year it had its 25th anniversary - bombed in large part in the nights of the 13th and 14th, February, 1945 it took several decades until 1977 to restart the rebuild).

Is it really so different to other opera houses? Not just a opera house in the sense we all would expect? Attracting the "silver locks" and "black suits" night after night?

It certainly is, yet most of it has to be explored personally. Even when you have no clue what the concrete outcome of visiting a performance of "Young Choreographers" (premiering tomorrow, three performances already completely sold out - only chance to get tickets being at the box office of Semper 2 30 min prior to performance start) - I love the challenge to try out new staff, that could eventually lead to further personal learning experience. Dresden is the heart of Europe's most dense multi-disciplinary hotspot of emerging technology fields, with cutting edge research, and a rising entrepreneurship eco-system (even though still in a pre-mature phase compared to other tech centers around the world, taken the acceleration, and open cooptition into account).

Semperoper, as a microcosmos of the world as such in a nutshell (pretty much what August the Strong created back in his ruling days) where arts, science, technology, and foreign cultures "clash" in serendipity constantly. Doing business as everybody in the opera world, playing the "old" operas in traditional style and costumes, would certainly enable the box office to sell ticket for premieres for several thousand EUROS per person. Yet the human mind only would see, hear, and feel what it would naturally expect - where is the NEW then coming from?

In a world of changing priorities, shrinking monetary funds, and reshifting the kind of work the Semperoper is reinventing itself every day - from my past experience in the lean management world, which I had also the privilege to lead as an "early mover" at BMW back in 2003, the house is an amazing role model to see what "lean" is about. Changing daily productions on stage, and starting every night sharply at the preset hour is more than amazing.

Last Sunday another outstanding evening of the almost 20 year-long history of "Jazz in der Semperoper" had been announced in the papers and the website. A jazz trio from Palestine bringing not only unheard sounds to the house, and the city - rather setting another mosaic stone in the multi-cultural tribe of house. Having had a rich past of Jewish artists that had to leave Semperoper when the Nazi-government took power in 1933, inviting the group - in my view - gave room for setting closer emotional bounds across diverse cultures.

"Die Welt des Trio Joubran feat. Yousef Hbeisch" pulled the audience completely in its ban, and created a emotional band, that only music, and ballet can create - as individual language, and words plays no role, only the world universal language that is understood across cultural boundaries and enables the creation of trust. Trust is the essential essence of dialogue, that when nurtured for long enough a time enables unimaginable collaborative action that would not be thinkable.

Dresden is rich of such places where the "unexpected culture clashes" can happen in a relaxing, and most fruitful way - lets await the next "Jazz in der Semperoper" and meet together (even though we have no clue what is the concrete outcome - it may be new friends you'd never have met, learning about a style of music that until yesterday did not even bother your thought, or may it be the emotions that pull your tears out thinking about getting along with friends from Serbia, Croatia, Switzerland, England, Italy, Greece, Germany, France, Turkey, Hong Kong, Japan back in 1991).

Everybody will draw something different from attending a performance at Semperoper, and it will be different from the kind of performance, and her or his personal past experience. Looking forward to a fruitful future of "Jazz in der Semperoper" that got very positive feedback by Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (in German).

As always, a short PresencingStatus on the event:

Good: amazing cultural spanning performance, emotional connection with the audience
Tricky: some sounds my ears are not yet used to
Learned: holding the tension, not knowing what to come - always good for personal learning
Action: finding out what is about the rumors that "Jazz in der Semperoper" will finish

Der Nussknacker kommt nach Dresden!

Last Saturday evening I finally saw The Nutcracker. I have never seen it before and having the chance to see it in the magic city of Dresden was like a dream coming true.
The Semperoper was completely full, no free seats available (the same happened to the Premiere one week ago)...everybody waiting for the exhibition to start.

After a few minutes the orchestra plays the first notes of Tchaikovsky music and the show starts. A lot of young children-dancers fill the stage (they are the young students of the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz). Being The Nutcracker a Christmas fairy-tale it is a pleasant surprise to see children expressing on stage their joy for Christmas.

I suppose that everybody knows the

story of the little Maria and the Nutcracker, therefore I avoid to summer it up here. For those who do not know it yet, I suggest to give a look at the trailer on the Semperoper website.

Copyright: Costin Radu

This Nutcracker takes place in Dresden (such an elegant city and an excellent place to give life to a Christmas fairy-tale). From the scenografy one can easily recognize one of the Zwinger’s doors with its beautiful crown and the Striezelmarkt (the traditional Christmas market). I have deeply appreciated the Dresden location. Making Dresden the ideal set for a fairy-tale it is like extending to our daily life the emotions performed on stage.

The light-games give even more emphasis to what on scene and the costumers, all so colorful provide brightness to the scenes. No one word can be heard during the show, everybody is completely fascinated by the dream performed on stage. The Christmas atmosphere has enchanted all!

Every single scene is made unforgettable by the great professionalism of the Semperoper’s soloists (Anna Merkulova, Istvan Simon, Yumiko Takeshima, Jiri Bubenicek) and of the whole Corps de Ballet. They give always great pleasure to eyes and mind and, most important, the joy they feel performing their ART is clearly felt by the audience!

We easily forget that most of the pleasure comes by the emotional tension the dances give to the audience…. the music, the costumes, the lights together with the choreographies and the scenographies are part of the huge work the dancers and all the staff make to give and share emotions with the audience. From the co-operation and the hard work of many people (most of the time unknown) we all receive those emotions and ideas that spread in our mind even many days after the performance.

A huge thanks to Aaron S. Watkin, to Jason Beechey and the young dancers of the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz, to all the Semperoper’s dancers and to all those people who made my evening unforgettable (the best start I could dream for the coming Christmas!).

Dreaming is important even when we are not children anymore!

The Genius Within us Needs to be Nurtured

About Teasing (taken from Gordon MacKenzie's 'Orbiting the Giant Hairball', right page top drawing)

"... But I think that when you teased your co-worker, friend, neighbor about the level of his/her creativity ability, you are holding up a stop sign that said: STOP Risking! STOP Growing! STOP Sharing! STOP Living! - Because when you finally stop living, you will no longer be a threat to me." (slightly changed quote from page 122)

Teasing is the death through thousand cuts - the teased one will be strong for long, only to eventually kick in and "die" at one point (seemingly surprising to others).

Please rethink next time you are about to belittle a friend's idea, how you feel when somebody tells your cool idea is grap, and not worth to be followed ahead! And STOP your mouth opening up!

Creative genius is in all of us, yet often pretty pre-mature. Look for the people, who can help you to grow this precious piece within you that only you, and some sensitive people (gone through similar stages) can see, and reflect to you.

Many BIG THANKS go to all my mentors, whether they know about it knowingly or whether they just reflected on my sometimes "crazy sounding" ideas to get the focus clearer.

Who are your mentors in life who have helped you in finding your PASSION? What made them so?

'Alcina' zum Verlieben Verführerisch

Copyright: Matthias Creutziger

Am vergangenen Samstag stand sie auf dem Programm der Semperoper (hier ganz modern, im Sinne Händels, der Verweis zur Facebook Gruppe) , die 'Alcina' von Friedrich Georg Händels. Eine weitere Barockoper im modern angehauchten Gewand, wie der interessierte Operngänger sich schon bereits eine Woche vorher bei der Einführungsmatinee vergewissern konnte.

Gänzlich anders diesmal der Einstieg zu dieser Premiere, denn zuvor ein persönliches Interview zu zukunftsweisenden Technologien rund um den Stoff Graphen, an dessen Umsetzung auch in Dresden intensiv geforscht und gearbeitet wird. Wie sollte sich dies mit dem kommenden Abend, der diesmal bereits kurz nach 17 Uhr begann, verbinden? Man konnte gespannt sein - war doch die Semperoper in den vergangenen Monaten immer wieder für überraschende Momente gut.

Was konnte da besser passen als eine "Zauberoper", in der das Unmögliche zur Realität wird, und ein Labyrinth der persönlichen Erfahrungen und künftigen Möglichkeiten auf der Bühne zu erleben war? Doch beginnen wir mit der Einführung, dem obligatorischen "Tunen der Sinne" (wie es auch ein Spitzensportler stets tut bevor es auf die Bahn geht!) der eigenen Aufmerksamkeit für die Opernstunden vor uns. Sophie Becker, die Dramaturgin der Inszenierung führte souverän in das Stück ein und zeigte dem interessierten Publikum, das zahlreich in den Opernkeller gekommen war, den "roten Faden" der barocken Oper. So vorbereitet begann Punkt 18 Uhr vor vollem Haus die Premiere, die es - wie wir über den Verlauf der kommenden drei Stunden sehen und erleben sollten - in sich hatte.

Mit Faszination konnte dem Besetzungszettel entnommen werden, dass diese Produktion ausschließlich mit Mitgliedern aus dem eigenen Ensemble (sowohl sängerisch als auch tänzerisch) besetzt ist. Neben 'Street Scene' erneut eine Gelegenheit neue und bekannte Stimmen des Hauses kennenzulernen. Hervorzuheben sind hier besonders Barbara Senator, die bereits zwei Wochen zuvor bei der Eröffnung des Militärhistorischen Museums eine kurze Arie aus 'Alcina' darbot. Amanda Majeski ebenfalls neu an der Semperoper und seit dieser Spielzeit festes Ensemblemitglied glänzte mit einer spielerischen und sängerischen Glanzleistung, die bei vergleichbaren Altersstufen selten anzutreffen ist.

Doch sei die Story kurz erzählt:

Alcina (Amanda Majeski), einer Zauberin auf einer einsamen Insel liegen die Männer scharenweise zu Füßen, doch sobald sie ihrer überdrüssig wird verwandelt sie diese in tierische Zwitterwesen. Rugiero (Barbara Senator, in einer Hosenrolle) hat es ihr besonders angetan, ihre ganze Liebe fokussiert sich auf ihn. Doch Rugieros Ehefrau Bradamante (Christa Mayer) will ihn aus deren "Liebesklauen" in der Verkleidung ihres Bruders Ricciardo entreißen. Dabei begleitet sie Melisso (Markus Butter). Kaum treffen beide auf der Insel ein treffen sie auf Alcinas Schwester Morgana (Nadja Mchantaf) und ihren Freund Oronte (Simon Esper). Hin und hergerissen von Gefühlen versucht Bradamente Rugiero wieder für sich zu gewinnen. Am Ende kann sich Rugiero (anders als in Händels Original) nicht zwischen leidenschaftlicher Liebe zu Alcina und solider Familienvaterliebe entscheiden und entsagt dem Leben.

Mit dem doch frischen Auge eines "Nichtkenners" der Barockoper und Händel im Speziellen komme ich mir vor wie das englische Publikum 1735 zur Uraufführung - und lasse das Geschehen auf mich wirken. Was in den technischen Details zu Barockmusik und den stimmlichen Besonderheiten noch nicht in der "Kenntnisschublade" versuche ich im größeren Kontext und der Stimmung zu erfassen.

Man merkt Jan Philipp Gloger ein wenig an, dass er vom Schauspiel kommt, und so kommt eine neue Sicht ins Spiel. Statt barockem Pomp, ist Schlichtheit und Eleganz angesagt, die durch die wieder hervorragende Lichtführung von Fabio Antoci unterstrichen wird. Man muss sich Gedanken machen, was mit einzelnen Ausdrucksformen der Handlung, des Bühnenbilds und auch der Kostüme verbunden sein mochte. Welche Emotionen sollen sich beim Publikum einstellen? Alcina kommt zunächst als "männermordendes Weib" in Erscheinung, mit hochtoupiertem Haar und strahlender Erscheinung - ein wenig unerreichbar scheinend. Und doch oder gerade deshalb liegen ihr die Männer zu Füßen, sie bietet die Utopie, die die eigene Frau nicht zu bieten hat (so scheint es). "The grass looks always greener on the other side of the fence" - Bradamante (hervorragend gespielt und gesungen von Christa Mayer) sieht die Situation anders als Rugiero, der mitten im "System Alcina" eingebunden ist als Außenstehende, was mit den Männern geschieht, die Alcina "zur Seite" legt (und auch Rugiero blühen wird). Hier kommt die erfrischende, ständig zwischen spontan wechselnden Liebesbezeugungen hin- und herspringende Morgana ins Spiel, die in Bradamante einen neuen Liebhaber sieht. Und so kommt Bewegung in das Spiel der Gefühle, die einen oft auch persönlich beschäftigen. Es muss nicht nur Liebe sein, es kann auch ganz allgemein um Leidenschaften gehen, die man im selbst gelebten System nicht in der gewünschten Form umsetzen kann. Oft gibt es dann ein ENTWEDER vs. ODER, Schwarz oder Weiß. Doch was oft vergessen wird, dazwischen gibt es einen Blumenstrauß an Farben und Möglichkeiten, die so flexibel erkundet werden können, wie sich das Labyrinth auf der Bühne veränderte. An jeder Ecke des Lebens, auch in dem von Rugiero und Bradamante, gibt es die kleinen Ereignisse und Überraschungen, die es wert sind, dass man das eine nicht gänzlich mit dem anderen tauscht. Am Ende geht es so aus wie in dieser Variante von 'Alcina' und alle drei haben verloren. Nur die anderen gewinnen, die eigentlich gar nicht im Fokus der Hilfe standen!

Das macht nachdenklich!

Wie schon bei 'L'incoronazione di Poppea' muss sich das auf moderne Töne eingerichtete Ohr mächtig an die Barockklänge gewöhnen, wenn es sich nicht bereits um einen passionierten Barockoperfan handelt. Die Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden mit Rainer Mühlbach am Pult heute halb-erhaben hochgefahren aus dem Graben auf Augenhöhe mit Publikum bietet einen Hybrid zwischen reiner Barockmusik mit klassischen Instrumenten aus dieser Zeit und zeitgenössischen Instrumenten. Es ist der reine Luxus aus dem Parkett Orchester, Dirigent, Sänger als auch Publikum mit einem Blick wahrzunehmen - die Aufführung bekommt eine gänzlich andere Qualität. Alles scheint miteinander verwoben zu sein, und die Gedanken schweifen zum Spiel auf der Bühne und zurück in das eigene Erleben.

Wie mag es wohl den rund 1.300 anderen Gästen der Premiere ergangen sein? Welche Emotionen kochten hoch? Welche Fragen stellten sich?

Doch alles in Kürze:

• Good - eine erfrischende neue Inszenierung, die viel Raum für persönliche Interpretation und Reflexion bot; ein phantastisches Ensemble, das in Zukunft noch mehr von sich Reden machen wird (insbesondere Barbara Senator und Amanda Majeski); Szenenapplaus und Bravo-Rufe aus dem Publikum; drei (3) Stunden, die wie im Fluge vergingen (hätte es nicht ein wenig mehr sein können?),
• Tricky - sich einlassen auf Neues (Doch ist es nicht der Moment, wo wir aus einer Oper das Meiste für uns persönlich mitnehmen?),
• Learned - Georg Friedrich Händel, der immer wieder die Oper umgeschrieben und angepasst hat wäre sicherlich sehr angetan gewesen ob des Zuschauerzuspruchs, und auch der doch teilweise kontroversen Sichtweisen (schon während der Vorstellung geführter Gespräche); manche Besucher entspannen sich bei Opernbesuchen und andere wiederum sehen diese Gelegenheit als besondere Lerngelegenheit (also geht es wie im Stück, es kein "entweder oder" sondern ein "mit"), den schmalen Grat es beiden recht zu machen ist immer wieder die Herausforderung; auch Opernkomponisten wie Händel sind Entrepreneure im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes (wie es heute oft nur noch mit Startups in der Businesswelt in Verbindung gebracht wird),
• Action - neugierig machen auf mehr, dass sich noch mehr Neugierige auf den Weg zu 'Alcina' finden. - E S   L O H N T   S I C H (in diesem Jahr folgen noch zwei Aufführungen im November, bevor es dann in 2012 weitere gibt; Details).

... die enttäuschte Alcina 

(verlassen von Männern und 

Zauberkraft)

Copyright: Matthias Creutziger

Weitere bereits erschienene Rezensionen:

• NMZ (Rezension)
• Musik in Dresden (Rezension)
• BR Online (Rezension)
• Deutschlandfunk (Rezension)
• Deutschlandradio (Rezension)
• Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (Rezension)
• DRESDNER Kulturmagazin (Rezension, auch zu aktueller 'Lohengrin'-Aufführung mit Stuart Skelton
• .... wer kennt noch welche?

'Simplicius Simplicissimus' - simple is something different

Friday evening in Dresden, a cubicle behind Semperoper, the name is program: Semper 2. New approaches to opera are created here, and the open room offers quite some experiences one never can make happen between the audience and the players, singers, and dancers in the large house.

15 min to start (at 7pm sharp) the crowd is awaiting to be let in. The tension rises, as normally ("But what is normal?") one is allowed around 30 min early to enter. Something is different, yet one does not get details.

Opening - the eyes see no stage in the middle, rather 128 (or 125?) wooden boxes where the audience is going to sit, the stage is draped around the walls - this is going to be what Edgar Schein, MIT Sloan School of Management, and scholar of Kurt Lewin, a German-American psychologist with Jewish roots, calls a "cultural island", the ordinary is shifted significantly out of the normal expectance, and yet there is not much room to flee the situation. Curiousity, and paid ticket definitely outweigh the anxiety that arises already.

This situation reminds instantly of a paper written by Edgar Schein with the title "The Role of Art and the Artist". Why is arts relevant to other elements of society like business or government? - that's his initial question. Let's see whether, and how this new piece created by Manfred Weiß and his team will play out.

"First, art and artists stimulate us to see more, hear more, and experience more of what is going on within us and around us."

Being the audience in the middle, sitting on plain boxes, let's the mind stay anxious, moving around in 360° as the play goes on around on the installation around the walls.  It could happen that you instantly get in "conversation" with your neighbors bumping in each others' feet. Erik Nielsen, the conductor this evening is standing merely a few meters away, the orchestra around him, and almost part of the audience. One feels connected, one feels the real work of what a conductor is providing for the whole process: being the facilitator of a rather complex process.

"Second, art does and should disturb, provoke, shock, and inspire."

Copyright: Matthias Creutziger

Going to the opera often is expected to be nice. This evening certainly was different. Valda Wilson, Australian soprano, and a member of the Junges Ensemble, played her debut as "Simplicius Simplicissimus". What had sparked at last year's opening at Albertinum with "The Inner Voice" where she had sang as part of the ballet performance choreographed by Jiří Bubeníček, principal dancer of the Semperoper Ballett, clearly now became apparent: here is a voice "diamond"beautifully harnessed over time. Who had the chance to experience, and hear her in "Pussy in Boots" earlier this year could see her amazing capability not only concerning her voice, but additionally here playing skills. Congratulations to Valda, who inspired once again, that you can, and should play roles in life you are not naturally familiar with. The outcome is amazing!!!

Karl Amadeus Hartmann was already 1934 in the first draft of this opera about the gruel times of the Thirty Year War very distinct with the persons, and it did not make it difficult "to see" Hermann Göhring moving on stage. Matthias Henneberg amazingly brought this part over, and one could see some frowning in the audience, as this connected back to a not often in this city talked about time, when innovation in arts often got diminished as "Entartete Kunst" by the governement. What that meant for Semperoper can be experienced via Verstummte Stimmen (after a presentation at Semperoper and Staatsschauspiel Dresden in the summer - this opera could spark further engagement in learning about it, and its relevance for today's art).

"Third, the artist can stimulate us to broaden our skills, our behavioral repertoy, and our flexibility of response."


The tension between the narration of a 17th century play by Grimmelshausen and the "seen" reality of the 1930's clearly shook the audience's minds, and the receptive thinking about what this opera with a music quite unfamiliar, led into some improvisation by all.

"Fourth, the role of arts and artists is to stimulate and legitimize our own aesthetic sense."


The time during this evening once again showed that "beauty" is not only what the large audience, critics, and voices define as that, "beauty" lies also in the new ways of expressing intentions as Karl Amadeus Hartmann, on the edge of the arts and living society back in the day, intended to do. The adaption to our times with still the anchor points to the past (the costumes of the 17th century, the military uniform, the haircut of the dancer) brought the memories up, even though only a few of the audience might have experienced the 30's themselves. Playing such a piece in itself is an amazing BEAUTY.

"Fifth, analysis of how the artist is trained and works can produce important insights into what is needed to perform and what it means to lead and manage."


Different to the performance on the large stage here the artists, are all part of one audience, WE. And everybody can see each other's emotions and reaction, a quite unique situation for opera singers, who normally in productions are detached more from the audience which is also sitting in a rather dark room. On Friday it was like being all together on the same blanket (or wooden piles ;-)).

My resume of the evening: STUNNING and calling for more!!!

Doing what is often done by me after such an experience to capture the assets of learning, is the Presencing Status (stating four short questions):

• Good - an opera played in a very unfamiliar setting, creating a "cultural island", emotionally touching, and opening the heart; great debut by Valda Wilson as Simplicius expressing not just her awesome voice (BTW where does that amazing soprano spring up from? How many "Valda Wilsons" are around us, and would only need the right mentor to see the awesomeness to make them strive forward to their highest potential?) also her natural talent as an actor (via mimic and gestic alike (!)); what impresses me every and each time is how opera singers and the orchestra get accustomed to the unique closeness to the audience, they even for themselves experience encounters they often can't get on the large stage (where seeing the audience during the performance is something of impossibility;
• Tricky - minor details as the 4 million lost souls during the 30 Year War (Dreißigjähriger Krieg, 1618-1648), and the to be further accustomed joined action of the in the audience distributed singers of the choir; my ears are still not really accustomed to German opera texts (what counts is the wholeness of the performance - and this has been exceptional in every aspect (!))
• Learned - subtle signs such as uniform, first name made clear the connection to the 30's and the background on what the opera was intended to show and express; the Dresden audience is more flexible to adapt to new circumstances as thought (today after heading out of the introduction to 'Alcina' the newest production, an old lady (clearly in her late 70's/ early 80's told me how much she liked the performance even with the (for her for sure) shocking elements within the play connecting to the time between 1933-1945 in Dresden) - this may be even the most encouraging feedback on such productions, that fit into the row of 'Street Scene' by Kurt Weill also played on large stage; holding the tension, even when emotions seem to overwhelm you, tears are about to flow as memories come up, will emerge in the collective consciousness;
• Action: definitely see the performance at least a second time in order to experience the development (as I always do, especially with productions, that are either catching diverse reviews or little attention in the beginning of the play); reading & writing on "cultural islands" and how an opera house like Semperoper can play a major role in providing such a space for making innovation (in the technological, and even more in the social sense (!)) possible.

Add ons/ Ergänzungen (in German):

• Kulturnews (Review)
• Musik in Dresden (Review)
• DresdenEins TV (Interview mit Valda Wilson)
• DNN-Online (Review)
• Schott Mainz (Ankündigung)
• Bel Canto (Sydney, Australia; mentioning on Facebook)

Sparking to Think - and Act!

Copyright: iart.ch

Emotionally disrupting show, ConfronTension, by Dresden Semperoper and Dresden Semperoper Ballett 'On the Move' here at Military Museum Dresden. 

At 3pm sharp their 2nd show is going to kick-off.



'Love and Hate' is the theme of the starting point - both spark intense emotions, the question is "How do we deal with them (individually & collectively)? The emerging energy they unveil is powerful, in the right context/ social field this can be used to co-create a better future (even on diverse world views).

I am strongly reminded of Adam Kahane's talk on 'Power and Love' at 3rd Global Forum in Muscat, Oman, in April 2008

While some friends are at downdown Dresden like Marco Dziallas, Florian Andreas Vogelmaier, ... I am at Dresden's most disturbing and emotionally touching point up on the outskirts of the city.

Toi Toi Toi --- for the second round on ConfronTension.

A terrific setting Daniel Libeskind has set for the future, and further emotionally touching discussions about the past, present, and future!

-------------------------

By now this performances are over, yet there is more to come around ballet and opera, that have (from my point of view) a rather strong connection to what we have seen today, and experienced around the world. 'Hate and Love' is all around us, only it is on us to deal with it accordingly for the better of it.

• Good: ballet in a new and inspiring setting; meeting lots of friends, sparking of memories
• Tricky: the dense spaces held some people back while trying to see the performances
• Learned: let yourself in the flow of action, magic and surprises will happen
• Action: putting my thoughts on "electronic" paper (which I am doing right now) and on Facebook (this actually done shortly before the 2nd run today).

Accelerating Futures - Past & Current Combined

Currently it is the 3rd day of SEMICON Europa 2011, Europe's largest fair on semiconductor industries (and adjacent fields, that reach well into the creative space, OLEDs as just one example). Silicon Saxony so to say the host of the future.

"There will be no future without microelectronics!" as Stanislaw Tillich, Ministerpräsident of the Free State of Saxony coined it at the press conference on Tuesday out here at MESSE DRESDEN where 'Slaughterhouse Five'.

As Saxony is a true hot bed of hightech innovation, and has a legacy in social change (just remember the days of the 'Soft Revolution' of the year 1989 in the GDR when the citizens of Dresden played also a major role in making the transition possible), this also attracted a friend from Japan. A few days earlier Motohiro, until yesterday "only" a Facebook-friend, announced his coming, so it was quite natural to tell him to apply as visitor for SEMICON Europa 2011. Announcement by Motohiro, that touchdown in Dresden has been completed - THE BALL OF CONNECTING THE WORLD IS ROLLING!

Quelle: Mediaserver DMG

Meeting at 9 o'clock sharp, with Dresden October rain pooring down, once again an international surprise encounter. After months of FB connections, Likes, and sharing knowledge originally generated by dear friends Bert-Ola (Sweden), and Inma (Spain) finally came together in meeting in person at one of the most internationally sparked places in Dresden: Starbucks Dresden Altmarkt. Tuning in, getting accustomed to each other's speed of thinking, and acting, getting reading for take off to MESSE DRESDEN. On the way through the rain, a short detour through Zwinger, Theaterplatz, and checking Semperoper for tickets that night. What might be on? - 'Un ballo in maschera' (a story about the 'blind spot' of management; that is how I see it by now) is on. So as Motohiro is just one day in Dresden, taking the chance (even though that is my third (!) visit to it. We decide to make it on last minute - one never knows what interesting encounters could happen while at SEMICON Europa 2011.

A most inspiring day with Motohiro around the conference, learning more about semiconductor industry via him. The day seemed to accelerate already. It peaked (for the first time) when my eye caught notice of a clean room visit to Fraunhofer IPMS at 4:30pm ("Oh, would we make it to Semperoper at 7pm?" - challenges to be on the move ;-)). A very personal tour through the facilities at Fraunhofer IPMS in the compound area, where Silicon Saxony had some of their roots well before the year 1989.

6:15pm -time is running, 'Un ballo in maschera' is starting in 45 min (sharp, this opera house is clearly a lean facility, always amazed on the precision. "Will we make it?"is racing my mind. A taxi is arranged a couple of minutes later by colleagues and off we go - whooosh to downtown Dresden.

5 (!) min to the start. Tickets on forth level (actually best choice if you'd fond of experiencing the complete roundview of the play on stay - every time again I am amazed what insight one gets from up their, despite the distance) and we are sneaking in just seconds before the lights go off. The house is full and remembering the reviews on the premiere at 30th of September are long forgotten. The play is once again amazing, and even visitors from Berlin whom we by accident got in contact were thrilled by the modern play. [More on the performance in separate blog post].

As the day had not yet given enough, the evening finished with a light supper at MAX next door. Only to take separate ways shortly around 0:30am - only to meet soon for sure. Perhaps already to Open Science Summit in Mountain View on 22./23. of October. I am invited there as blogger in residence, yet at the moment I lack the financials to make the flight over to California possible.

If somebody would approach me with a similar situation, I'd certainly not hesitate to fund the project. Who is currently in a better position as myself (currently working, yet not for money, global interdisciplinary connectors, AKA boundary spanners in the social network world, are not a common business role and paid yet), may indicate his/her willingness to support #InnoBay (of which the Open Science Summit is just one part).

Connecting across disciplines, technologies, arts, business, and education through bringing the word about Silicon Saxony & Dresden into the world especially Silicon Valley is my passion :)