any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones

Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned that the demonstrations in Hong Kong during the summer of 2019 would end in ‘crushed bodies and shattered bones’. He believed that harsh language would keep the protests in check. Rhetorical violence seems to have become normal in the Trump era. Words are used as weapons, and may turn into real violence. At the same time, concerned citizens loudly make themselves heard with sit-ins, kiss-ins, climate actions, and school strikes. Belgian choreographer Jan Martens (b. 1984), whose work focuses on the beautiful, crazy, poignant aspects of humans, stages a protest with seventeen performers aged 15 to 68. He uses a different, perhaps much more telling language than words – that of the body.