German premiere

The new dance solo by and with Jan Martens is based on two very different signatures: his own and the choreographer Marc Vanrunxt’s, with whom he developed the piece. Jan Martens brings elements of emotional elegance to the certain fragility in Marc Vanrunxt’s aesthetics. In a broad palette, despair alternates with joy, expressivity with silence.

The piece looks like a big self-portrait, but still exudes a secret: The respect and thanks to known choreographers and other artists create a general universality. The music is also varied and ranges from Pet Shop Boys to the »Polskie Requiem« (»Polish requiem«) by Krzysztof Penderecki (1984).

Marc Vanrunxt, born in Antwerp in 1960, studied dance from 1976-81 and has been choreographing since 1984. He danced with numerous choreographers such as Thierry Smits and Jan Fabre and worked together with visual artists and composers. In 2001, he founded Kunst/Werk, an organisation for dance, in Antwerp. He is a guest lecturer at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent.

Jan Martens, born in Beveren / Belgium in 1984, completed a dance education in Tilburg and Antwerp. After his diploma in 2006, he danced in different companies and has been choreographing since 2010. With the pieces »Victor« (2013) and »The dog days are over« (2014), his success began in innumerable cities and countries. At euro-scene Leipzig 2015, Jan Martens was a guest with »Sweat, baby, sweat« and in 2016 with the double evening »Bis« (»Encore«) and »Ode to the attempt«.