Jan Martens: The Dog Days are Over 2.0

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

“Open all your pores for this gem. And above all, don’t forget to breathe.” –  Het Nieuwsblad

“Beyond the athletic performance, it always exudes a choreographic approach made of high precision and beauty combined. A parable of the best that sport and dance produce.”- Sceneweb

ABOUT THE WORK

Belgian choreographer Jan Martens brings his explosive The Dog Days Are Over 2.0 to NYU Skirball. In this relentless, high-stakes performance, eight dancers push the limits of endurance through a hypnotic cycle of jumps with little music and no escape, just raw physical intensity. Martens strips dance down to its purest, most brutal form, exposing the beauty and agony of repetition. Precision and exhaustion collide in a performance that is both mesmerizing and punishing to watch. Get ready for a visceral dance experience that will leave you breathless. 

RUN TIME

This performance is 70 minutes with no intermission

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Belgium in 1984, Jan Martens studied at the Fontys Dance Academy in Tilburg, Netherlands, and graduated in 2006 from the dance department of the Artesis Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. In 2010, he started creating his own choreographic work. Over the years, his pieces have been performed with increasing regularity in front of an international audience. He believes that each body can communicate and has something to say. Direct communication expresses itself in transparent forms. His work is a sanctuary in which the notion of time becomes tangible and in which observation, emotion as well as reflection can coexist. To achieve this, he shapes and reuses existing idioms in different contexts that allow new ideas to emerge. In all his works, he tries to redefine the relationship between the public and the performer.

CREATIVE CREDITS

CHOREOGRAPHY: Jan Martens
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR / ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE: Naomi Gibson
ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE / COACHING:
Steven Michel, Piet Defrancq
PERFORMERS:Pierre Bastin, Camilla Bundel, Jim Buskens, Zoë Chungong, Simon Lelièvre, Florence Lenon, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Pierre Adrien Touret, Zora Westbroek, Maisie Woodford, Paolo Yao
DRAMATURGY: Renée Copraij
COSTUME STYLING: Sofie Durnez
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jan Fedinger
TECHNICIANS ON TOUR: Michel Spang, Elke Verachtert, Nele Verreyken
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Nick Mattan
GRAPHIC DESIGN INTERNSHIP: Joëlle Desmet
PHYSIOTHERAPY AND OSTEOPATHY: Fourward Gent, Inge Haeyaert, Lode Verreyen
PRODUCTION: GRIP (Hanne Doms, Anneleen Hermans, Rudi Meulemans, Klaartje Oerlemans, Jennifer Piasecki, Sylvie Svanberg, Nele Verreyken)
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent
PARTNERS 2023-2027: La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand SN, Maison de la danse/Pôle européen de création,
en soutien à la Biennale de Lyon
CO-PRODUCTION: Theater Rotterdam, DE SINGEL, Le Carreau – Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est Mosellan & Perpodium
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: The Flemish Government, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest, bpost’s Star4U fund
THANKS TO: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, c o r s o
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

double portraits
Jan Fedinger / what is left on stage:
THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER (2.0) [2014 & 2025]

text
Ilse Ghekiere
scene pictures
Stefanie Nash
graphic design, sweat scans
Nick Mattan & Joëlle Desmet