“Die Geschichte vom Zappel-Philipp” / “Fidgety Philip”
Der Philipp, der Philipp,
Der zappelt, wippt und wirbelt flip!
Here is restless Philip – see?
He cannot sit, not even for tea.
Philippa tells the story of a neurodivergent child who cannot keep still at the dinner table. One sudden jolt and the entire table crashes down. Sasha, a Ukrainian-American dancer, embodies the child whose boundless energy is seen as disruption, her movements misread as misbehavior. But the instability runs deeper. Created during a time when war continues to displace millions from Ukraine and global attention flickers from crisis to crisis, Philippa becomes a portrait of nervous systems in overdrive, bodies reacting to a world that won’t stop shaking. Sameena Mitta draws a line between childhood unrest and the broader societal disorder created by unending conflict: a culture stripped of calm, where stillness is demanded, but never granted. As Philippa clings to the falling cloth, the piece asks: in times of war and uncertainty, what do we hold onto and what must we let fall?
Filmed in Heidelberg, Lake Constance & the Bavarian Alps, Germany
Choreographer/Director: Sameena Mitta
Videographer/Video Editor: Mark Trumbo & Paige Barnett Kulbeth
Performer: Sasha Golorgoskaya
Costume Designer: Sarah Timberlake
