any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones

Jan Martens / GRIP in collaboration with Dance On Ensemble

2021
© Stanislav Dobák
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
© Phile Deprez
‘Snowflakes, leaves, humans, plants, raindrops, stars and molecules all come in communities. The singular cannot really exist.’ – Paula Gunn Allen in Grandmothers of the Light: A Medicine Woman’s Sourcebook.

With any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, Jan Martens is for the first time fully turning his attention to the main stage. A production about the power that lies in being out of step, performed by a seventeen-strong, atypical corps de ballet made up of unique personalities.

The heterogeneous group of dancers spans several generations, the youngest being 18 and the eldest 71, with significant differences between them in terms of track record and technical background. In any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, they seek their own voice within the dance and beyond, looking for an idiom that fits them like a glove. One by one they claim their place on stage, without cutting off the others for all that. A horizontal exercise in giving each other the necessary space, while being careful not to steal the limelight.

any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones is a rich performance that does not hesitate to seek out the ecstatic. In times of extreme polarization, this group sets social dogmas aside to recognize and embrace a range of distinct identities. Being uninhibitedly themselves – in both life and art – with the stage as their ideological testing ground. They are supported by a soundtrack that consists of protest songs from different ages – from Henryk Górecki via Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln to Kae Tempest.

More on DANCE ON ENSEMBLE

Selected for Het TheaterFestival 2022

tour dates

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any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones

stadsschouwburg de harmonie
LEEUWARDEN NL

any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones

cité musicale metz - arsenal
METZ FR
DERNIERE

press quotes

★★★★ 'Especially in the exuberant finale, with a sudden light switch and color change in the costumes, this pulsating power is very tangible. No wonder the audience in Avignon stood upright for minutes during the applause. This sizzling dance performance was well worth the wait.'
- Filip Tielens, De Standaard, 20 july 2021

'any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones is overwhelming because of the way in which the power of a large ensemble, so common for dance, is combined with the individual gait of many dancers. [...] A certain vulnerability emanates from the challenges Martens poses not only to his dancers, but also to himself. Everyone takes risks here, everyone is vulnerable. [...] The dancers visibly enjoy that last part. The performance is also very clearly a tribute to them - to the people who dare to stick their heads and their legs out on the stage of the world.' [critic's choice]
- Fransien van der Putt, Theaterkrant, 02 september 2021

 

'Jan Martens has put seventeen dancers on stage. One-headed like a corps de ballet, alarming like a docile herd. Incredibly diverse in appearance and inclinations, repetitive until it drives you crazy.'
- Bas Blaasse, pzazz, 22 october 2021

'By the end of Any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones, all the dancers have their own unique outfits, personal space and individual movement material, while at the same time the vitality and togetherness splashes from the stage. [...] Focused, compelling and convincing. [...] We see it and become delighted.'
- Jacq. Algra, Het Parool, 27 october 2021

★★★★★ 'Any attempt... [...], Martens' first for the main stage, is a dance performance you would like to send everyone to. Compelling, hopeful, moving. And relevant.'
- Francine van der Wiel, NRC, 29 october 2021

'With a sharp hand, Martens carries out the main cast without removing the expression of others. This makes Any Attempt a very cleverly conceived performance, which nevertheless never becomes severe, hermetic or celebral. On the contrary, it is admirably warm, good for an equally generous wave between the audience and the community on stage. Just what we desperately craved after all those contact-less months.'
- Jury report Het TheaterFestival 2022

credits

CHOREOGRAPHY: Jan Martens
DANCE: 17 out of these dancers: Abigail Aleksander, Pierre Bastin, Georgia Boddez, Ty Boomershine, Truus Bronkhorst, Camilla Bundel, Jim Buskens, Baptiste Cazaux, Zoë Chungong, Piet Defrancq, Naomi Gibson, Simon Lelievre, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Solal Mariotte, Cherish Menzo, Steven Michel, Gesine Moog, Dan Mussett, Wolf Overmeire, Tim Persent, Courtney May Robertson, Laura Vanborm, Zora Westbroek, Loeka Willems, Lia Witjes-Poole, Maisie Woodford, Paolo Yao
ARTISTIC ASSISTANCE: Anne-Lise Brevers
LIGHTING DESIGN: Jan Fedinger
ASSISTANCE LIGHTING DESIGN: Vito Walter
COSTUME DESIGN: Cédric Charlier
ASSISTANCE COSTUME DESIGN: Alexandra Sebbag and Thibault Kuhn
ADVICE: Marc Vanrunxt, Renée Copraij, Rudi Meulemans and Siska Baeck
 

TEXT: fragment SPRING by Ali Smith. Copyright © 2019, Ali Smith, used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Limited
MUSIC: “Concerto pour Clavecin et Cordes Op 40” Réf Im: 108884 Musique de Henryk Mikolaj Górecki © PWM Editions représenté par Alphonse Leduc Editions Musicales,
“People’s Faces” written by Kae Tempest and Dan Carey © Published and Administered by Domino Publishing Company Limited (50%) and MANATA LTD Administrated by Warner/Chappell Music Belgium N.V. (50%),
“Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace” written by Maxwell Roach © Published by Milma Publishing Company Administered by Kobalt Music Publishing Limited.
TECHNICAL DIRECTION: Michel Spang
TOURING TECHNICIANS: Michel Spang and Valentijn Weyn/Vincent Philippart
PHOTOGRAPHY: Phile Deprez
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Luis Xertu
TEASERS AND TRAILERS: Stanislav Dobak and Jan Fedinger
 

PRODUCTION: GRIP
IN COLLABORATION WITH: Dance On Ensemble
INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION: A Propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent and Lara van Lookeren
COPRODUCTION: DE SINGEL (Antwerp, BE), Theater Freiburg (DE), Sadler’s Wells (London, UK), Julidans (Amsterdam, NL), Festival d'Avignon (FR), Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix Hauts-de-France (FR), Norrlandsoperan (Umeå, SE), La Bâtie - Festival de Genève & l’ADC - Association pour la Danse Contemporaine Genève (CH), tanzhaus nrw (Düsseldorf, DE), Le Parvis Scène Nationale Tarbes-Pyrénéés (Tarbes, FR), La Danse en grande forme - Projet de l’A-CDCN et de l’ACCN : Cndc - Angers, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, La Manufacture - CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux - La Rochelle, CCN de Caen en Normandie, L’échangeur - CDCN Hauts-de-France, CCN de Nantes, CCN d’Orléans, Atelier de Paris / CDCN, Collectif Fair-e / CCN de Rennes et de Bretagne, Le Gymnase | CDCN Roubaix | Hauts-de-France, POLE-SUD CDCN / Strasbourg et La Place de La Danse - CDCN Toulouse Occitanie and Perpodium (BE)
WITH THE SUPPORT OF: De Grote Post (Ostend, BE), CCNO - Centre Chorégraphique National d'Orléans in collaboration with la Scène nationale d'Orléans, Charleroi danse - Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie-Bruxelles (BE) and December Dance (Concertgebouw and CC Brugge) (BE)
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: the Flemish Government, the city of Antwerp, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government and Cronos Invest
THANKS TO: Wannes Labath, de! Kunsthumaniora, Nadine Scheuer, Mr. Jean Chabert (STANLEY/STELLA)