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This event was part of our 2022 Edition

any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble

Presented by Dublin Dance Festival and the Abbey Theatre

Irish Premiere

Belgium / Germany


An uplifting and timely performance embracing diverse voices and the strength of collective movement.

any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones
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27 May—28 May

This new work champions the fundamental right to protest and demonstrate – the unique power that lies in being out of step; in welcoming individuality; in finding collective strength in difference.

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Price

€13 – €40 (concession rates available)

Where?

Abbey Theatre, on the Abbey stage


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How long?

90 mins (no interval)

This show contains strobe lighting, strong language, and partial nudity

There will be a post-show discussion after the performance on Fri 27 May

From the show

any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Stine Sampers
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Stine Sampers
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez
any attempt... by Jan Martens / GRIP & Dance On Ensemble © Phile Deprez

any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones was an overwhelming success at the last edition of the Festival d'Avignon. You rarely see such an inclusive dance ensemble."

Festival d'Avignon reviewer Filip Tielens

“Jan Martens’ dancers received a minute-long standing ovation in Avignon. And rightly so: what a stunning dance performance; sometimes intimate, sometimes completely ecstatic."

De Standaard

“Jan Martens is THE choreographer on whom Belgium should now depend. His obsessive work on the gesture and his absolute confidence in what the body can express have given him a huge profile in just a few years.”

Charleroi Danse, Belgium

"Each dancer seems to represent an individual planet, with its own rules and movement language, yet all are part of the same galaxy, forming a collective movement."

Movement Exposed


In any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, a seventeen-strong, atypical corps de ballet ranging in age from 17 – 70 use the stage as their ideological testing ground. With varying technical backgrounds, they set aside social dogmas to seek out their own voice within the dance and beyond and to embrace a range of distinct identities. One by one, each dancer uninhibitedly claims their place on stage while still holding space for the others and sharing the limelight.

Supported by a soundtrack that consists of protest songs from across the ages, this collaboration between Jan Martens/GRIP and Dance On Ensemble is a vital and timely new work that explores themes of polarisation and prejudice. Every motion is carefully crafted to present us with images, ideas and questions about the kind of society we want to create together.

Credits

  • Choreography Jan Martens
  • Performers Ty Boomershine, Truus Bronkhorst, Jim Buskens, Baptiste Cazaux, 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
  • Alternating: Pierre Bastin, Georgia Boddez, Zora Westbroek, Lia Witjes-Poole
  • Understudies Abigail Aleksander, Maisie Woodford, Simon Lelievre, Solal Mariotte
  • Artistic Assistance Anne-Lise Brevers
  • Lighting Design Jan Fedinger
  • Assistance Lighting Design Vito Walter
  • Costume Design Cédric Charlier
  • Assistance Costume Design Alexandra Sebbag, Thibault Kuhn
  • Outside Eye Marc Vanrunxt, Renée Copraij, Rudi Meulemans, Siska Baeck
  • Text Excerpt from 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
  • Technicians Michel Spang, Valentijn Weyn or Bart Van Hoydonck /Nele Verreyken
  • Production Manager Sylvie Svanberg
  • Production Assistance Marie Luyten (internship), Saskia Vervoort
  • Business Management Klaartje Oerlemans
  • Business Support Ruud Van Moorleghem, Lotte De Mont
  • Communications Sam Loncke
  • Photography Phile Deprez
  • Graphic Design Luis Xertu
  • Trailers and Teasers Paul Sixta, Stanislav Dobak, Jan Fedinger
  • International Distribution A Propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent

Produced by GRIP in collaboration with Dance On Ensemble. Co-produced by 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 (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 and La Place de La Danse - CDCN Toulouse Occitanie) and Perpodium.

With the support of De Grote Post (Ostend, BE), Charleroi Danse (BE), CCNO - Centre Chorégraphique National d'Orléans icw Théâtre d’Orléans (FR) and December Dance (Concertgebouw and CC Brugge). With the financial support of the Flemish Government, the city of Antwerp, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest.

Supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut Irland.

  • Abbey-Theatre
  • Goethe-Institut
  • Federal Foreign Office

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