About the work
“A Year without Summer” is a performance by the choreographer and director Florentina Holzinger that combines dance theatre, musical numbers, live music and body art. It premiered in May 2025 at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin, co-produced with numerous international partners such as Tanzquartier Wien, Kampnagel and Dansenhus Stockholm. The music is by Born In Flamez and Stefan Schneider, among others; the large, predominantly female ensemble includes performers over the age of 80.
Plot
The starting point is the “Year Without a Summer” of 1816: after the eruption of Mount Tambora, ash darkened the sky, and at Lake Geneva during this time Mary Shelley conceived the idea for “Frankenstein”. From there the evening leaps into a kind of present-day operating theatre and asks how people deal with crises and their own mortality. The scenes revolve around body optimisation, the dream of immortality through medicine, artificial intelligence and bioengineering, as well as ageing, care and dying.
Cultural significance
The piece was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen 2026. Critics were divided: they praised the visibility of old and socially marginalised bodies and the quieter, poetic passages, while criticising its length and some historically questionable connections. The performance contains explicit nudity and graphic bodily imagery and is recommended for audiences aged 18 and over.