Before dance became art, before it tried to express anything, before it was a ceremony or a technique, it was a game.
Nothing could be simpler than playing with movement. Or more complex. A body is a toy, a superbly versatile and fascinating toy. The mechanical, sensory and combinatorial possibilities of a body are material for endless discovery.
Let’s be frank: the games we like the best are often the ones we probably shouldn’t be playing in the first place. Games that have consequences and risks, games that are more than just a game, games that make our head spin and can break our heart.
Gaming is a thread that connects many of Joshua Monten’s previous work, from the hyperactive geometric obsessions of “Kill Your Darlings” to the inter-species sport of “Doggy Style” and the morally hazardous play with violence in “Joy.” Now, in “Game Theory,” Monten looks a bit more deeply at some of the building blocks of gaming and spectating: structure and freedom, mimesis, empathy, adrenaline and flow. The result is an aesthetically rigorous composition that creates space for freedom and pleasure.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Joshua Monten
DANCE
Claudio Costantino
Angela Demattè
Sandra Klimek
Max Makowski
Jack Wignall
DRAMATURGY
Guy Cools
COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Voeffray
LIGHTING DESIGN
Jonas Bühler
MUSIC CONSULTANT
Moritz Alfons
VIDEO
Yannick Mosimann
APPRENTICES
Rozemarijn Louwerse
Niki Stalder
Frederik Kaijser
PRODUCED BY
Verein Tough Love
COPRODUCED BY
Dampfzentrale Bern
Krokusfestival Hasselt
WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FROM THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS
Pro Helvetia
Kultur Stadt Bern
Migros Kulturprozent
GVB Kulturstiftung
Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
Gesellschaft zu Ober-Gerwern
Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art
Sophie und Karl Binding Stiftung
Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung
PERFORMANCES
20 February 2020 (try-out) — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
21 February 2020 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH) (premiere)
22 February 2020 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
26 February 2020 — Krokusfestival Hasselt (B)
11 March 2020 — Dock 11 Berlin (D)
12 March 2020 — Dock 11 Berlin (D)
13 March 2020 — Dock 11 Berlin (D)
14 March 2020 — Dock 11 Berlin (D)
24-26 July 2020 — Heimspiel Festival, Diepenheim (NL)