"Like Orpheus do I play death on the strings of life and know only to speak of dark things within this beauty of earth and your eyes, conducting the heavens." These lines by Ingeborg Bachmann antecede the new dance play "Orphans" by Karel Vanek. The Greek myth of Orpheus serves as the foundation for this production, being about beauty as well as about grief and dealing with death.

Karel Vanek was born in the Czech Republic and first studied mathematics in Prague before being educated in dance. As a soloist in Pavel Mikulástiks choreographical theatre, he went from Fribourg to Bonn. In 1991, Eva Černá and Karel Vaněk join to form Cerna & Vanek Dance and have succesfully produced their own plays since. Since 2007, Karel Vanek acts as programme director dance at the Brotfabrik Bonn.