With any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, Jan Martens is for the first time fully turning his attention to the main stage. A production about the power that lies in being out of step, performed by a seventeen-strong, atypical corps de ballet made up of unique personalities. The heterogeneous group of dancers spans several generations, the youngest being 17 and the eldest 70, with significant differences between them in terms of track record and technical background. In any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, they seek their own voice within the dance and beyond, looking for an idiom that fits them like a glove. One by one they claim their place on stage, without cutting off the others for all that. A horizontal exercise in giving each other the necessary space, while being careful not to steal the limelight. any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones is a rich performance that does not hesitate to seek out the ecstatic. In times of extreme polarization, this group sets social dogmas aside to recognize and embrace a range of distinct identities. Being uninhibitedly themselves – in both life and art – with the stage as their ideological testing ground. They are supported by a soundtrack that consists of protest songs from different ages – from Henryk Górecki via Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln to Kae Tempest
CHOREOGRAPHY: Jan Martens
DANCE: Ty Boomershine, Truus Bronkhorst, Jim Buskens, Zoë Chungong, Piet Defrancq, Naomi Gibson, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Cherish Menzo, Steven Michel, Gesine Moog, Dan Mussett, Wolf Overmeire, Tim Persent, Courtney May Robertson, Laura Vanborm, Loeka Willems and – alternating – Pierre Bastin, Georgia Boddez, Zora Westbroek, Lia Witjes-Poole, Camilla Bundel, Paolo Yao [on tour], Abigail Aleksander, Maisie Woodford, Simon Lelievre, Solal Mariotte [understudies] and Baptiste Cazaux [original cast]
ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE: Anne-Lise Brevers
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jan Fedinger
ASSISTANCE LIGHTING DESIGN: Vito Walter
COSTUME DESIGN: Cédric Charlier
ASSISTANCE COSTUME DESIGN: Alexandra Sebbag and Thibault Kuhn
ADVICE: Marc Vanrunxt, Renée Copraij, Rudi Meulemans and Siska Baeck
TEXT: fragment SPRING by Ali Smith. Copyright © 2019, Ali Smith, used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Limited
MUSIC: “Concerto pour Clavecin et Cordes Op 40” Réf Im: 108884 Musique de Henryk Mikolaj Górecki © PWM Editions représenté par Alphonse Leduc Editions Musicales,
“People’s Faces” written by Kae Tempest and Dan Carey © Published and Administered by Domino Publishing Company Limited (50%) and MANATA LTD Administrated by Warner/Chappell Music Belgium N.V. (50%),
“Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace” written by Maxwell Roach © Published by Milma Publishing Company Administered by Kobalt Music Publishing Limited.
TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Michel Spang
TOURING TECHNICIANS: Michel Spang en Valentijn Weyn of Bart Van Hoydonck/ Nele Verreyken
PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: Sylvie Svanberg
PRODUCTION ASSISTANCE: Marie Luyten (internship) and Saskia Vervoort
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT: Klaartje Oerlemans
BUSINESS SUPPORT: Lotte De Mont and Ruud Van Moorleghem
COMMUNICATIONS: Sam Loncke
PHOTOGRAPHY: Phile Deprez
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Luis Xertu
TEASERS AND TRAILERS: Stanislav Dobak and Jan Fedinger
PRODUCTION: GRIP
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Dance On Ensemble
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A Propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent and Lara van Lookeren
COPRODUCTION: DE SINGEL (Antwerp, BE), Theater Freiburg (DE), Sadler’s Wells (London, UK), Julidans (Amsterdam, NL), Festival d’Avignon (FR), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix Hauts-de-France (FR), Norrlandsoperan (Umeå, SE), La Bâtie – Festival de Genève & l’ADC – Association pour la Danse Contemporaine Genève (CH), tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf, DE), Le Parvis Scène Nationale Tarbes-Pyrénéés (Tarbes, FR), La Danse en grande forme – Projet de l’A-CDCN et de l’ACCN : Cndc – Angers, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, La Manufacture – CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux – La Rochelle, CCN de Caen en Normandie, L’échangeur – CDCN Hauts-de-France, CCN de Nantes, CCN d’Orléans, Atelier de Paris / CDCN, Collectif Fair-e / CCN de Rennes et de Bretagne, Le Gymnase | CDCN Roubaix | Hauts-de-France, POLE-SUD CDCN / Strasbourg et La Place de La Danse – CDCN Toulouse Occitanie and Perpodium (BE)
WITH THE SUPPORT OF: De Grote Post (Ostend, BE), CCNO – Centre Chorégraphique National d’Orléans in collaboration with la Scène nationale d’Orléans, Charleroi danse – Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE) and December Dance (Concertgebouw and CC Brugge) (BE)
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Government, the city of Antwerp, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest
THANKS TO: Wannes Labath, de! Kunsthumaniora, Nadine Scheuer, Mr. Jean Chabert (STANLEY/STELLA)