On Saturday 5 October, the iconic Sint Janskerk on the Vrijthof square will transform into a Dance Church for one day. In this peaceful and quiet location, you will find an almost magical place where dance can be experienced in its purest form. Without illusion, decor or theatre lighting.
As an audience, you are close to the dance floor, on the skin of the dancers. So close that the smallest details become visible, and you feel the dancers in all their humanity and vulnerability crawl under your own skin.
Titled Once is not enough, this event focuses on choreographies by Antonin Comestaz and Joseph Simon that, despite their high quality, have been showcased far too little, sometimes only once. This programme is a plea for a better balance between making / showing and offers the audience a unique opportunity to discover hidden gems by award-winning choreographers.
PROGRAMME
Antonin Comestaz
STAY WITH ME
The theme of romantic relationships, with its endless forms and expressions, is a timeless muse. Love, often seen as an elusive ideal, defies precise definitions or limits, as each couple's story is uniquely nuanced. This piece isn't just about relationships; it portrays a fictional couple's unique dynamic where bodies and minds attract, withdraw, chase, seek, and find each other.
Joseph Simon
CASUAL STEPS
Casual Steps is a duet verging between ballet and house dance. Two dancers meet on the dance floor in a universe where the court ballet, the club, casualness, elegance, attitude, coolness and groove come together. Inspired by the story of the Ballets Russes, that stirred up Paris a century ago with their unconventional and foreign flair, Joseph seeks to reinvestigate the attraction of the exotic.
STAY WITH ME
CHOREOGRAPHY Antonin Comestaz
DANCE Aya Misaki, Hiro Murata
LIGHT DESIGN Antonin Comestaz & Albert Tulling
MUSIC Antonin Comestaz, Aphex Twin (Cello Cover by Helen Newby), Miki Matsubara, Mika Vainio, Sarah Davachi
COSTUME Antonin Comestaz
CASUAL STEPS
Concept & CHOREOGRAPHY Joseph Simon
DANCE & co-CREATION Alesya Dobysh, Lukas Karvelis, Bilal Bachir
DramaturgY Merel Heering
LIGHT DESIGN Quintus
MUSIC Jimmi Jo Hueting, Une nuit sur le mont chauve, Moessorgski
PRODUCTION Dansateliers
THANKS TO Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds