The dance production “YES/NO” is a playful, interactive and virtuosic exploration of the theme of consent. It begins as a feast of radical positivity, expressed through dance: joyful, enthusiastic and spectacular. Then comes No: worth practicing, since it’s often so hard to say out loud. After that, things get more complicated, as the dancers negotiate boundaries with each other and with the audience. The choreography is both precise and playful, highly energetic and thoughtfully interactive.
The audience is arranged in a ring around the stage, affording a thrillingly intimate experience of live performance. The dancers interact directly with the audience members, who gradually become characters in the very performance they are witnessing. No two performances are exactly the same.
The Joshua Monten Dance Company has a longstanding interest in “how to do things with words”: exploring how movement and text can be imaginatively combined into multilayered and thought-provoking dance productions. The kaleidoscopic choreography of “YES/NO” transforms the simplest of ingredients into fascinatingly complex structures, bursting with full-bodied presence, pulsating rhythms, poetry and pleasure.
teaser (indoor version)
performance video (indoor version)
performance video (outdoor version)
PERFORMANCES
10 April 2026 — Tanzhaus Basel (CH) — try-out
24-26 April 2026 (3x) — Grosse Halle der Reitschule Bern (CH) – premiere of indoor version
7 May 2025 — Schulhaus Bodenacker, Münchenbuchsee (CH) — try-out
8 May 2025 — La Fête de la danse, Vevey (CH) — try-out
8 May 2025 — La Fête de la danse, Lausanne (CH) — try-out
9 May 2025 — La Fête de la danse, Yverdon-les-Bains (CH) — try-out
10 May 2026 — Das Tanzfest, Bern (CH) — premiere of outdoor version
21 May 2026 — GIBB Viktoria, Bern (CH)
28-31 May 2026 (4x) — Dock 11, Berlin (D)
13 June 2026 (2x) — Festival Opera Prima, Rovigo (IT)
15 June 2025 — Schulhaus Bodenacker, Münchenbuchsee (CH)
6 November 2026 — Phönix Theater, Steckborn (CH)
6 December 2026 — Theater am Gleis, Winterthur (CH)
CHOREOGRAPHY
Joshua Monten
DANCE
Manon Campion
Gianmarco Martini Zani
Hannah Thomas
Jack Wignall
Ana Nahuel Blattner [alternate]
Ben Mucznik [alternate]
CONSENT CONSULTANTS
Kristin Horrigan
Emma Murray
OUTSIDE EYE
Emma Murray
COSTUME DESIGN
Catherine Voeffray
LIGHT DESIGN
Mirjam Berger
SOUND DESIGN
Christine Hasler
COPRODUCTION
Grosse Halle der Reitschule Bern
Tanzhaus Basel
PRODUCED BY
Tough Love
WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE FINANCIAL SUPORT FROM THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS
Kultur Stadt Bern
SWISSLOS / Kanton Bern
Burgergemeinde Bern
GVB Kulturstiftung
Migros Kulturstiftung
Stiftung Anne-Marie Schindler
Landis & Gyr Stiftung
Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung
Bürgi-Willert-Stiftung
First Dance / Sophie und Karl Binding Stiftung and Ernst Göhner Stiftung
Gesellschaft zu Ober-Gerwern
SPECIAL THANKS
Liz Waterhouse
