A danced tribute to a fascinating musician. A dance portrait that slides between movement styles and musical genres.

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Venue

Main stage, Barnhusgatan 12-14

Duration

70 minutes

1 Feb

19:00

2 Feb

19:00

In the performance Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, which would have been shown on our stage in early February 2022, Jan Martens used music by Elisabeth Chojnacka. Martens was fascinated by the Polish musician. In the solo Elisabeth Gets Her Waydanced by himself, she gets the time and space she deserves.

Elisabeth Chojnacka (1939 - 2017) was an exceptionally talented and passionate musician who was partly responsible for the revival of harpsichord music in the mid-20th century. Thanks to her talent and perseverance, in the 1970s and 1980s a large number of musicians (Ligeti, Xenakis, Ferrari, Berio, Halffter) wrote new works for harpsichord, often dedicated to Chojnacka.

It goes without saying that music plays a major role in this performance, with a soundtrack covering a wide range of composers. From Nyman to Montague to Ligeti, always in a performance by Chojnacka. Martens plays his body like Chojnacka plays the harpsichord. Different movement styles are brought together. Martens glides through them as easily as Chojnacka does between historical and modern musical registers. The dance is interwoven with a documentary layer about Chojnacka's work and life.

Listen to Jan Martens talk about his performance in a interview produced by Dansens Hus Oslo and read his text on Elisbeth Chojnacka.

Jan Martens

Jan Martens

Jan Martens (°1984, Belgium) Choreographer and dancer Jan Martens has worked as a dancer in several Belgian companies, including United-C and Ann Van den Broek. He graduated from the Artesis Conservatory for Dance in Antwerp in 2006. Since 2009, he is also active as a choreographer with several international successes behind him, most recently THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER and SWEAT BABY SWEAT. In his work he wants to emphasise the beauty of human imperfection, rather than physical virtuosity.

Since 2017, Mr Martens has been creative associate at deSingel international arts campus (Antwerp, BE), until 2021. He is also the co-founder of the choreographic platform GRIP.

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Stick around after the performance on 1 February for a conversation between Jan Martens and Dansens Hus Theatre Director Joannes Öhman.

Jan Martens puts his finger on the innovativeness of Elisabeth Chojnacka (1939-2017) in such an ingenious and precise way that you are left in awe.

-Annette Embrechts, De Volkskrant

...it is just as glorious to watch and hear Martens and Chojnacka fuse their art in a riveting celebration of radical emotional force.

-Evgeny Borisenko, dance writer