Through the Wall – by Thomas Bentin
A choreographed journey through the city
TIME:
Fri. 19 Aug. 16.00
Sat. 20 Aug. 11.00
Sun. 21 Aug. 11.00
MEETING PLACE: In front of the HUMAC store at Nørreport Station, Frederiksborggade 11
WHAT: Choreographed performance walk
DURATION: 50 min.
Through the Wall takes you on a choreographed walk through the urban landscape and shows you the city from a new angle.
Follow the three performers through central Copenhagen, where cars and people hurry through or gather to eat, drink or play ball. The performers appear out of the blue to disappear again as they play, investigate and interact with the architecture of the urban landscape.
Bodies slamming against walls, melting down stairs and rolling through grass… They let you rediscover the contrast and beauty that this accumulation of cement, metal, flesh and bone, that we call a city, possesses.
The performance examines the body’s encounter with urban reality and brings life and vitality to otherwise anonymous places where the body is not normally expressed. Taking inspiration from the city’s movements and the forms of the architecture, the dancers add an expressive layer to the familiar surroundings and intensify the experience of the city’s texture, mood and movement.
The performance is created for and performed in unique versions in Copenhagen, Helsingør (Passage Festival 27-30 July) and Køge (12-14 August).
TO BREAK THROUGH THE WALL – THOUGHTS FROM THE CHOREOGRAPHER
“Through the Wall transports you to the NOW. Where you open your eyes to the surroundings. Where you step out of everyday life and the expected and suddenly see the place you are standing, feeling it, taking it in.
The ordinary can be quite extraordinary. It is the wall of the familiar and the expected that we are trying to break through. I hope to make you see the magical, poetic and powerful in something everyday-like.
And so, for once, let’s question the normal. What is the normal thing to do here? Why is what is happening now so abnormal?
We add simple, expressive actions to a place to make it part of your story, which you have to compose all by yourself inside your head.”
Thomas Bentin
ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHER
Thomas Bentin Works is directed by the Danish dancer and choreographer Thomas Bentin. After working for more than 20 years as a performer and choreographer in Denmark, Europe and South America, his company is now based in Køge.
With a passion for movement, musicality and a subtle sense of humour, he explores themes of human behaviour. For the past three years, he has primarily focused on how theater and dance can contribute to our lives outside the theatre building and interact with the environment in which we live and work.
CREDIT
Concept & choreography – Thomas Bentin
Artistic consultant – Poul Laursen
Performers – Anette Toiviainen, Nikoline Due, Marco Rizzi
Costume design – Ane Katrine Schyth Kjær
Sound design – Jonas Jørgensen
Production manager & photographer – Luna Stage Kramer
Guides: Emma Hornum, Ulrik Ørsnes Jansen og Mikkel Mallow
Administration – Projektcentret
Produced by – Thomas Bentin Works
A special thanks to the performers who were part of the initial research: Mikkel Mallow, Liva Spangegaard, Thomas Smith, Emma Hornum, Frida Grant, Marie Kim Skovgaard Larsen and Ulrik Ørsnes Jansen.
For all ages from 10 and up.
Performed in collaboration with Metropolis and Passage Festival Helsingør with the support of the Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, William Demant Fonden, Aage & Johanne Louis-Hansen Fonden and Køge Kommunes Kulturpulje.