DARKMATTER
In a futuristic universe, Cherish Menzo transforms the Black body with powerful dance language. Together with Camilo Mejía Cortés, she pulls apart seemingly recognisable images in D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER and kneads them into a dance and movement language all her own. Travel off into the pitch-black, punky and alienating D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER universe where the possibilities of the body are stretched to the maximum. Against the backdrop of an apocalyptic jungle décor, equipped with cinematic soundtrack, a dark and beautiful play with the hypothetical body emerges.
Festival Nederlands Theater Festival
Venue Rabozaal
Duration 80 minutes
Language language no problem
D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER
For D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER, Menzo draws on hip-hop and rap culture, posthumanism and Afrofuturism; a movement that envisions a future in which black people live in a hyper-technical and decolonised world. Or in which colonisation never happened. To create her universe, Menzo found inspiration in space. In dark matter, where stars and black holes meet and collide. It is precisely in these collisions that a new, (afro)futuristic and enigmatic body can emerge. Precisely there, you can develop a new language of movement.
From the jury report
"D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER is of a rare abrasive beauty. Not often this season were the judges so blown off their chairs by the sheer power and necessity of a performance. D̶A̶R̶K̶MATTER is a powerful emancipatory statement. The jury praises the inescapable power and relentlessness of this performance."
5 - 15 September
NEDERLANDS THEATER FESTIVAL
Nederlands Theater Festival (NTF) marks the festive start of the new theatre season. For eleven days, NTF presents the finest, most impressive performances of the past season, based on the choices of seven independent juries from the Netherlands and Flanders. Thus, NTF celebrates many genres and forms of theatre: drama, cabaret, youth theatre, mime, performance and more.
The festival starts with the always talked-about lecture De Staat van het Theater and the in-depth interview The State of the World with a famous international artist. The festival concludes with a celebratory presentation of the Netherlands' most important theatre awards during The Gala of Dutch Theatre.
Credits
concept and choreography Cherish Menzo
creatie and execution Cherish Menzo and Camilo Mejía Cortés
light design Niels Runderkamp
music composition Gagi Petrovic, Michael Nunes
mastering Gagi Petrovic
scenography Morgana Machado Marques
costume design JustTatty.com
dramaturgy Renée Copraij, Benjamin Kahn
vocal and delivery coach BOИSU and Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
text Cherish Menzo, Camilo Mejía Cortés, BOИSU and Shari Kok-Sey-Tjong
artistic advice Christian Yav and Nicole Geertruida
voices distorted rap choir www.distortedrapchoir.com
technique Niels Runderkamp, Amber Stallenberg/Nele Verreyken
thanks to Eric Cyuzuzo, Jan Fedinger, Dries Douibi
production GRIP, Frascati Producties
international spread A Propic - Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent, Lara van Lookeren
-|-coproduction The Coproducers (NL), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, BE), CCN-Ballet national de Marseille dans le cadre de l'accueil studio / Ministère de la Culture (FR), actoral festival (Marseille, FR), STUK (Leuven, BE), La Villette (Paris, FR), Beursschouwburg (Brussels, BE), Festival d'Automne à Paris (FR), Perpodium (Antwerp, BE) in collaboration with Trill (Leuven, BE), WijzijnDOX (Utrecht, NL) with the financial support of the Flemish Government, Ammodo, Fonds Podiumkunsten, the Taxshelter of the Belgian Federal Government, Cronos Invest with thanks to Eric Cyuzuzo, Jan Fedinger, Dries Douibi, Khadija El Kharraz Alami
Cherish Menzo is the winner of the BNG Bank Theatre Prize 2023, winner of the Directieprijs Nederlands Theater Festival 2023, has been selected by the Official Jury Selection of The Netherlands Theatre Festival 2023 and the Official Jury Selection of The Theatre Festival 2023 (Belgium), she has been nominated for the VSCD Mime/Performance Prize 2023, for the VSCD Swan most impressive dance production 2023 and for the Actors' Guild Theatre Awards 2023.
REVIEWS
De Volkskrant
'The performance Darkmatter gives an exciting and alienating charge to 'dark matter'.'
De Standaard
'Whether teetering on their stiletto latex boots or slipping naked through black paint, the duo surprises after each blackout with powerful images [...] a poetic critique of representation that celebrates the richness of being black.'
De Groene Amsterdamm
'It is a public, theatrical ritual, with cleansing powers and technically incredibly constructed.'
