Pas de deux between bodies and text
“How to Do Things with Words” is a pas de deux between bodies and graphic text, between language and movement. How does one dance with text? What new meanings arise when dancers manipulate objects printed with words and phrases?
The results range from the literal to the poetic, from the meaningful to the absurd. Printed signs may be flat, but they add a surprising depth to a dance performance. Lush physicality and a detailed movement language color a black and white landscape of printed text fragments. Playing hide-and-go-seek amongst clouds of interpretive complexity, the dancers invite the audience to participate actively in the search for meaning.
Both indoor and outdoor versions of the production are available.
“Virtuosic and fluid, poetic and absurd…. There’s no doubt, one finds here the same mixture of offbeat humor and demanding classical vocabulary as in certain work (like “Nelken”) signed by that high priestess of Tanztheater, Pina Bausch…. The combination of text and movement, the admixture of contemporary dance, neoclassical dance, hip-hop and supple breath-like waves passing through the body all remind one of the historic choreographer William Forsythe. A marvel of singular strangeness.“
Bertrand Tappolet, Gauchebdo, 4 August 2022
“How to Do Things with Words” is the first part of the “Counterfeit” trilogy, in which the Joshua Monten Dance Company explores their favorite kinds of fakery and falseness. Martha Graham never tired of claiming that “the body never lies.” We beg to differ! Our bodies are adept instruments of deception. The very act of performing is inextricably implicated with telling lies — and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
The “Counterfeit” trilogy has been supported by a multi-year production grant from the City of Bern for the years 2022-2024.
Trailer
Teasers
CHOREOGRAPHY
Joshua Monten
DANCE
Angela Demattè
Katharina Ludwig
Jack Wignall
DRAMATURGY
Guy Cools
VIDEO
Manuel Justo
Alessandro Schiattarella
Matilde Martins
PROPS/GRAPHIC DESIGN
Franziska Lüthi
COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Voeffray
LIGHTING DESIGN
Mirjam Berger
MUSIC CONSULTANT
Moritz Alfonz
APPRENTICE
Gian Luca Lazzarini
PRODUCED BY
Tough Love
COPRODUCTION
Dampfzentrale Bern
Centre de Création Helvétique des Arts de la Rue (CCHAR)
WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE FINANCIAL SUPORT FROM THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS
Pro Helvetia
Kultur Stadt Bern
SWISSLOS / Kultur Kanton Bern
Loterie Romande / Corodis
Burgergemeinde Bern
Migros Kulturprozent
GVB Kulturstiftung
Parrotia-Stiftung
Stanley Thomas Johnson Stiftung
Fondation Nestlé pour l’Art
Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
Stiftung Anne-Marie Schindler
Stiftung Pro Scientia et Arte
Oertli Stiftung
THANKS
Marion Allon
Giulia Esposito
Sandra Klimek
Dario Theiler
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
16 February 2022 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH) — try-out/school performance
17 February 2022 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH) — premiere
18 February 2022 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
19 February 2022 — Dampfzentrale Bern (CH)
24-26 February 2022 (3x) — Dock 11 Berlin (D)
27 July 2022 — Centre de Création Helvétique des Arts de la Rue, La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH) — try-out
3-5 August 2022 (6x) — La Plage des Six Pompes, La Chaux-de-Fonds (CH)
11-13 August 2022 (9x) — Buskers Bern Festival, Bern (CH)
21 Februar 2023 (2x) — Krokusfestival Hasselt (B)
11 May 2023 — La Fête de la danse, Bulle (CH)
12 May 2023 — La Fête de la danse, Fribourg (CH)
12 May 2023 — Das Tanzfest, Brig (CH)
13 May 2023 — La Fête de la danse, Hôtel de Ville, Neuchâtel (CH)
14 May 2023 — Festa danzante, Lugano (CH)
26 June 2023 — Fête des écoles, Victoria Hall, Geneva (CH)
28 June 2023 (video showing) — American Dance Festival, Movies by Movers Film Festival, Durham, NC (US)
8-9 July 2023 (4x) — Festiwal FETA, Gdańsk (PL)
19 July 2023 — Kilowatt Festival, Piazza della Repubblica, Cortona (I)
20-22 July 2023 (8x) — Pflasterspektakel, Linz (AT)
29 July 2023 — Garden Parties, Parc de Mon Repos, Lausanne (CH)
25 August 2023 (2x) — Cradle of Creativity Festival, National School of the Arts, Johannesburg (ZA)
27 August 2023 — Cradle of Creativity Festival, Soweto Theatre, Johannesburg (ZA)
8-10 September 2023 (6x) — StraMu Festival, Würzburg (D)
27-29 September 2023 (6x) — Young Dance Festival, Zug (CH)
30 September 2023 (2x) — Young Dance Festival, Theaterplatz, Luzern (CH)
26-27 October 2023 (4x) — Festival Trame, Brescia (I)