While the last two of his works, How to proceed (2018) and If Only (2020), drew on the critical state of the world today to create contrasting languages, with Efeu (2022) Thomas Hauert delves into the physical relationship between life and the Earth – as a reminder of our indefectible link with nature. In entropy, the chaos intrinsic to every physical system, life and all living things seem to constitute an ingenious and seminal anomaly: energy diverted to create a cohesive force. Inherent in life, movement cannot be thought of separately from gravity, on which it depends and yet from which it constantly seeks to escape. This oscillation between tension and relaxation, between resistance and abandonment, these antagonisms at work in our bodies are at once the foundation, the focal point, and the creative field of Efeu. With human movement as its raw material, the resolutely abstract dramaturgy is closer to musical composition than to theatrical narrative, in tune with the complex and fluctuating powers of the universe.

#entropy #chaos #gravity #movement agains gravity #between tension and relaxation #in space #here

concept & direction: Thomas Hauert *research & creation: Fabian Barba, Thomas Hauert, Liz Kinoshita, Sarah Ludi, Federica Porello, Samantha van Wissen * performers: Music Ornella Vanoni, Lucio Dalla, Gino Paoli – Senza Fine / Eric Thielemans, Bart Celis – Drumloops / Jean C. Roché – Anthologie de chants d’oiseaux, Alpes du sud, vers 1000m / Krzysztof Penderecki – Polymorphia (extrait) / Jonny Greenwood – 48 Responses to Polymorphia / Marvin Gaye – Mercy mercy me (Ecology) * light: Bert Van Dijck *  sound: Bart Celis * costumes: Chevalier-Masson, Sami Tillouche * costume production: Isabelle Airaud, Eric Chevalier * scenography: Chevalier-Masson * production: ZOO/Thomas Hauert, DC&J Creation * coproduction: Théâtre les Tanneurs (BE) / Mercat de Les Flors (ES) / Pavillon ADC (CH) / Atelier de Paris / CDCN(FR) / Charleroi Danse, Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE), ICI – centre chorégraphique national de Montpellier/Occitanie – direction Christian Rizzo, Montpellier (FR) / Residenzzentrum tanz+, Baden (CH) Studio Tictac art centre, Ultima Vez, Grand Studio, Studio Thor, Charleroi Danse *support: Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles – Service de la danse / Pro Helvetia – Fondation suisse pour les arts / Ein Kulturengagement des Lotterie-Fonds des Kantons Solothurn,and the tax shelter of the Belgian federal government

©Bert Van Dijck