At 84, Armin Heinemann still finds inspiration in the simplest things Ibiza has to offer. The German-born designer, architect and theatre creator lives in an old countryside house without electricity or running water, a lifestyle he says brings him a kind of happiness that even a five-star hotel cannot match.

“I feel alive when I feel the rain, the wind and the sun on my skin,” Heinemann explains, describing the connection with nature that continues to influence his life and creative work.

His unconventional approach to living has not changed despite the challenges of recent weather. Storm Adam brought water into the kitchen and inner courtyard of his home, but Heinemann remains attached to the simplicity of his surroundings.

The artist is currently concentrating on his latest stage production, Sueños-2, which will premiere on Saturday, 31 October, at 18:30 at the Ibiza Conference Centre in Santa Eulària des Riu.

A Life Shaped by Ibiza and India

Born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1942, Heinemann has lived on Ibiza since the 1970s. He spends almost half the year on the island, dividing the remainder between Barcelona and Germany.

He describes Ibiza, followed by the spirituality of India, as experiences that helped save his life. His relationship with the island extends beyond its landscape and way of life, having also played a significant role in his artistic and professional development.

Heinemann co-created the Paula’s Ibiza fashion brand with Stuart Rudnick and was involved in the Ibiza Opera Festival. His career has moved across design, architecture, stage design, theatre and opera, with his recent work increasingly focused on the expressive possibilities of the human body.

For Heinemann, the natural world is not simply a backdrop. The experience of changing weather, sunlight and physical sensation forms part of the energy that sustains his creativity.

Exploring the Opposites of Human Experience

His new production, Sueños-2, continues an artistic exploration that began in 2019, when he started combining Argentine tango with butoh, an avant-garde Japanese dance form.

Heinemann is interested in the coexistence of apparently opposing forces: stillness and movement, light and darkness, pain and joy, and the natural and the artificial.

The production follows a couple whose relationship is shaped by desire, jealousy, love, hope and disappointment. A tango dancer becomes involved in their emotional drama, while a faun and two other fantastical figures introduce the power of nature into the story.

The figures can help the characters or disrupt their lives, reflecting the uncertainty and contradictions that underpin the production.

Rather than asking the audience to analyse a conventional narrative, Heinemann wants them to experience the emotions through movement, music and theatrical imagery.

Creating Through the Body

Heinemann's approach to directing has evolved throughout his career. He describes spoken theatre as an art form rooted in the mind and opera as one in which emotion takes centre stage. Through the combination of tango and butoh, he has increasingly focused on the body as a means of expressing thought and feeling.

His creative process does not begin with a completely finished script. Instead, performers start with a situation and music, exploring movements and interactions through experimentation. He observes their work and refines the material for the stage.

The result is a physical form of storytelling in which gestures, pauses, rhythm and the relationships between performers are central to the experience.

For Sueños-2, several scenes from the earlier production return, alongside changes to the costumes and visual projections. The new version retains the central theme while developing the work further.

Returning to the Stage After Injury

Alongside preparations for the premiere, Heinemann is recovering from meniscus injuries that have prevented him from dancing tango in recent months.

He hopes to conclude Sueños-2 by joining the performers for a few dance steps, as he did at the end of the previous production. However, his participation in the finale will depend on his recovery.

For now, he says his main priority is preparing the show. He has no other new projects planned beyond the production scheduled for the end of October.

Event Details: Sueños-2

• Date: Saturday, 31 October 2026

• Time: 18:30

• Venue: Ibiza Conference Centre, Santa Eulària des Riu

• Creator and director: Armin Heinemann

• Dance styles: Argentine tango and Japanese butoh

• Support: Santa Eulària Town Council and the Ibiza Island Council

The performance offers audiences an opportunity to experience Heinemann's distinctive combination of dance and theatre, shaped by a lifetime of artistic experimentation and a lasting connection with Ibiza.

For the creator, the island's importance lies not only in its cultural scene but also in the everyday experiences that make him feel connected to the world around him. That relationship with nature continues to inform both the way he lives and the work he brings to the stage.