Sweat Baby Sweat

PRESS

“[…] It opens with Steven Michel standing firmly balanced on both feet; Kimmy Ligtvoet is braced against his thighs, not touching the floor. Closeness, oneness, mutual reliance: These are the concepts that spring to mind as the two slowly perform a sequence of positions, most of the time with only one of them touching the ground. […] This first phase of love is repeated up to its culmination in a kiss. Only their mouths are connected while their bodies stretch further and further apart. […] Martens creates an evocative scene of differing needs within one relationship. […] It is presented so close-up and physically that it gets under your skin on a psychological level. A great piece based on a minimalist premise. […]”
www.tanznetz.de, 12 September 2015

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The lights go out and the audience finds itself alone with a couple locked in an intimate embrace. What threatens to become an embarrassing situation evolves into a thoroughly enriching, touching performance, testing the bounds of gravity and balance, closeness and distance. Jan Martens has danced in pieces by highly acclaimed choreographer Ann Van den Broek, who was a guest at the festival in 2014. Now, Martens is an upcoming dance-maker in his own right, who loves to “write with bodies” as he puts it.

In “Sweat Baby Sweat” he looks behind the scenes of partnership to investigate human reliance on a partner, and the pain, or impossibility, of letting go. The male-female dancer duo performs poses that verge on the acrobatic, in slow motion and with incredible emotional force (as well as physical strength), until the eponymous sweat is flowing freely.

(approx. 60 Min.)

 

Watch a video clip from the production on vimeo

 

cast & credits

Choreography: Jan Martens
Performance: Kimmy Ligtvoet, Steven Michel
Music: Jaap van Keulen
Video design: Paul Sixta
Coach: Peter Seynaeve.
Technics: Michel Spang
International bookings: Apropic, Line Rousseau
Premiere: Frascati Amsterdam, October 18th 2011

Production: Frascati Productions/ ICKamsterdam/ TAKT Dommelhof/ JAN vzw

With thanks to SummerStudios Brussels/ Marc Vanrunxt