“His captivating trio of dancers holds the audience spellbound for a full hour; Rutger Zuydervelt provides the trance-worthy soundtrack. Finally, the trio gets to briefly but intensely express intimacy and closeness—visions for a kinder, or at least more compassionate, world have been a constant feature of every Pérez piece in Heidelberg.”
Isabelle von Neumann-Cosel, Tanznetz.
EXHAUSTING SPACE
Choreography and concept: Iván Pérez
Music: Rutger Zuydervelt
Costumes design: Carlijn Petermeijer
Lighting design: Peter Lemmens
Originally created in Korko Theater, Cadance Festival, 2015
Original cast: Nina Botkay, Christopher Tandy, Iván Pérez
Photos by Susanne Reichardt
Iván Pérez developed the trio »Exhausting Space« originally in 2013 with Ballet Moscow and the piece was therefore in uenced by the political unrest in Russia, which was triggered by increasing homophobic laws and assaults at that time. In 2015, a next version premiered at the CaDance Festival at the Korzo Theatre in Den Haag. In November 2019, Iván Pérez and the dancers of Dance Theatre Heidelberg have been reinventing the material anew. It has been also staged at ZfinMalta National Dance Company and the Tanzensemble Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern (Version with 6 dancers).
»Exhausting Space« explores the boundaries of the body considering personal and interpersonal space. Here the bodies are as sensitive as they are strong. The attention focusses on the detail and creates an intimate relationship to the space as well as to other bodies and objects. Hundred black eggs fill the stage and allow metaphors of various kinds. The encounter with this otherness creates distance as well as tension and eventually unfolds into unavoidable outbursts. However, the bodies and their way back to unity in a seemingly endless cycle and hypnotize through their fascinating symbiosis.