OFF VENUE

Embark on a journey into the essence of human movement with the Motus Mori Institute by choreographer Katja Heitmann. Since 2019, Heitmann is aiming to archive human movement before it disappears. Working with a growing group of movement-archivists, she collects and preserves movements from people of all ages, places, bodies, and backgrounds. Based on this ever-moving archive, she creates artworks, like the performance installation MUSEUM that will take place against the mesmerizing backdrop of the Vondelkerk.

Motus Mori is more than just an archive; it's a living testament to the beauty and complexity of the body and human motion. Heitmann's vision challenges the conventional portrayal of humanity as quantifiable data, aiming to preserve the elusive core of mankind. To investigate the body as a vessel of memories and emotions. In her quest to create an archive of movement, she seeks to transcend the limitations of measurability and control, inviting us to explore the depths of our humanity through the language of motion. What moves humanity? And what moves you?

Step into the realm of Mondo Perfetto, a captivating performance by Corpo Máquina Society premiering in early August at Festival Boulevard. In this unique preview, artistic director Guilherme Miotto will be dancing onstage himself again after 11 years, alongside dancer Julia Nielsen and Portuguese classical percussionist Pedro Paixão.

Together, they explore hidden intentions within the depths of the human body. Why? To forge connections between the 'what' and the 'where.' How? Miotto's innovative approach treats all aspects of his work - presence, thoughts, imagination, dance, music - as vibrations. These vibrations serve to blur the sharp edges of the boundaries that divide us mentally from each other and from the world around us. It's a call for unity within a reality of our own making.

Throughout the performance, percussionist Pedro transposed Bach's timeless sonatas onto the resonant tones of the wooden African marimba, bridging the gap between tradition and innovation.

What’s that mass throbbing and humming, high up in the air of the big church? An organism of some sort? A shrub, a sea urchin, a swarm of bees? A multitude. A suspended entanglement of bodies and ropes. They hold each other, knotting limbs and hands and heads and armpits and toes and wrists. Softly grappling, they seek support and offer rest to each other.

Particles are connected to other particles, bodies intertwined with other bodies, and planets dance in harmony with other planets. The gravity gives us support and keeps everything moving at the same time, thus breathing life into our cosmos.

Unfolding Multitude is a WhyNot produced co-creation by vertical dance collective Ropes Aligned, visual artist Isabel Cordeiro and sound artist Gemma Luz Bosch in which visual art, vertical dance and ceramic sounds come together and gravity is being defied.

In the Bilderdijkpark, where church De Liefde (‘the Love’) stood that was demolished in 1912, two women sit eating sunflower seeds. They share a common space, a conversation, the intimacy of silence. This location, once a sacred ground where the dead were brought on boats to receive their last resting place, now serves as a setting for a contemporary ritual inspired by the Taranto, a form of flamenco that deeply connects the body to the rhythm and song of this ancient art form. The cante (singing) and baile (dancing) suddenly burst forth, transforming the mundane scene into a magic intimate spectacle.

A Taranto is a palo (form) of flamenco originally from the mining area of Almería. It’s a primitive song, simple, dry, without guitar, which was born from the need to sing independently. In TARANTO ALEATORIO (Random Taranto), choreographer and dancer María del Mar Suárez/LaChachi and singer Lola Dolores embark on their personal take of this palo’s stark rawness. By taking a random approach, the dancer and singer embrace irreverent gestures and humour emerges.