Among them, any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, which I discovered at the Avignon Festival in 2021, stands out. In that piece, Martens explored ageing with rare sensitivity, weaving 17 performers aged 17 to 70 into an intricate, musically and choreographically rich composition. It left a lasting impression – subtle, bold, and deeply moving.

Inviting Jan Martens to create with Carte Blanche has been a rich and generous journey. With a sharp eye for detail and a  deep sensitivity to each individual, he sees every dancer in their uniqueness. He guides the creative process with care, precision, and curiosity.

For this collaboration, Martens proposes an abstract, absurd, and intense dance piece that navigates the friction between structure and sensation, between abstraction and concrete situations.

CANCEL BERTHA opens a poetic world, a vast field of imagination where moments of magic emerge from chaos – glimmering, dissolving, and appearing again.

Musicality, rhythm, and sound form the pulse of the piece – a living constellation in constant motion. This system morphs, vanishes, and reappears, constructing and deconstructing itself in perpetual play. It becomes a playground where the gaze
dances among patterns, catching glimpses of logic only to let them slip again.

Music is not a backdrop but a shared practice of listening and sensing. The dancers, as individuals and as a collective, become an orchestra of bodies, each with their own tone, texture, and rhythm. This music weaves the elements together and becomes the connective tissue of this world – a vital force that harmonizes difference into shared resonance.

This living collage invites us to drift, to follow intuition, and to delight in the unknown. CANCEL BERTHA opens gates to new
perspectives – fleeting, fragile, yet full of possibilities.

Enjoy the show!

– Annabelle Bonnéry, Artistic Director