Trh(o)ugh

In Trh(o)ugh, creation for 11 dancers, immobility becomes a synonym for death. The dancers rely on each other as if their movements carry a flame that cannot be extinguished by the storm in which they find themselves.

Fascinated and inspired by the state of bravery, self-improvement and this state of danger, choreographer Damien Jalet chose to bring together under the title Onbashira – named after a symbolic ritual practised on the Nagano highlands in Japan – two of his most emblematic pieces, Skid and Thr(o)ugh.

In Trh(o)ugh, immobility becomes a synonym for death. The dancers rely on each other as if their movements carry a flame that cannot be extinguished by the storm in which they find themselves. Similar to an Onbashira ritual, the stage becomes a place of danger, which manifests in much more artistic means. The composer Christian Fennesz has created a nervous sound world that evokes an atmosphere of chaos. Like adrenalin or an electric shock, the music influences the rough movements of the dancers. They combine energies that come close to those in real life-threatening situations. Their corporeality alternates between crash-test dummy and ghost-figure. Virtuose, random, incandescent, and always on the verge of control and derailment, they are ecstatic in the face of gravity. Their clothing (once again by Jean-Paul Lespagnard) is testimony to an intense experience that has left its mark, testimony to what they have lived through collectively.

As Nina Simone sings “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”, time itself moves on, and an experience in Paris has changed the approach of my original idea. Of exploring the relationship between gravity and the subconscious. Trh(o)ugh is infused with the energy of escaping an unpredictable life-threatening situation, the exact moment when time and place determines our future.

Performances are rituals, and rituals have a function. On a personal level, Trh(o)ugh has this one for me: it’s my first attempt to articulate something through the body that I still can not put into words.

In 2016 , Thr(o)ugh, is a choreography for Hessisches Staatsballetts, collaborating again with artist Jim Hodges, Austrian composer Christian Fennesz, and designer Jean-Paul Lespagnard, nominated for “Best Choreographer” at The German Theatre Awards “Der Faust”.