Vertical Blue

Body of Art/Annemijn Rijk presents Vertical Blue, an immersive performance in which you make a freedive together with dancers, light, music and a slowly changing environment. 

In a world where our overactive human urge to dominate forces on us the illusion of control, life can sometimes strike from a dangerous angle. Grief, happiness, the aftermath of a broken heart, a missed chance, a child born. Life overwhelms. The tendency to shut ourselves off so as not to have to deal with overwhelming feelings and thoughts makes us hard and unyielding. The big clash seems inevitable.

In Vertical Blue the wave breaks, we are swept over and we let ourselves be carried along by the undercurrent. We fall deep into the ocean, breath held but body soft. Sounds vibrate so you can feel them, performers sweat their way into the depths, and the environment transforms into an elusive perspective. The world speaks, the senses listen. 

In a world where what always kept us upright no longer serves ourselves and our surroundings but actually damages them, Vertical Blue makes a radical proposal: what if our response to crisis is not to fight, to arm ourselves, to overpower, but to listen, to surrender, to create reciprocity and to attune anew? 

Vertical Blue invites surrender. We dive deep and let go. Not out of indifference, but to open our hands, eyes and thoughts to that which cannot be held or controlled. We are heading for a hard reset. 

The act of surrender. 

We better get ready.

45 minutes before the start, Annette Embrechts, dance and theatre journalist for de Volkskrant, will give an introductory talk. You can reserve a free place for this during the booking process.

Credits:

Artistic direction, choreography, concept: Annemijn Rijk
Performers: Noemi Calzavara, Teresa Avino, Sana Sanaki, Matilda Çobanli
Scenography: Theun Mosk - Ruimtetijd
Lighting design: Wout Panis
Composition and music: Aura Bouw 
Costume design: Annemarije van Harten 
Technical producer: Cedric van Daalen – Stage-Mate 
Marketing, PR and communications: Marieke Josselet 
Business management: Milou Vogels. 
Co-production: Schweigman&

Vertical Blue is made possible in part by Fonds Podiumkunsten, the Municipality of Tilburg, the Municipality of Breda, the Province of North Brabant and Stichting Icke-Lemmens.