This edition is about robots and humans, about cultural identities and global relations, about the people and the city. Ravishing dance shows and documentary theatre pieces, ironic humanoids and skillful bondage artists, Greek traditional dance and Indonesian noise music come together in a theatrical journey around the world and into Utrecht, crossing Uncanny Valleys and Pleasant Islands and leading through a wide range of genres and art forms.
“Ravishing dance shows and documentary theatre pieces, ironic humanoids and skillful bondage artists, Greek traditional dance and Indonesian noise music come together in a theatrical journey around the world and into Utrecht.”
A red line of the programme evolves around new technologies, High Tech: Performing Technology includes stunning shows and installations by Rimini Protokoll (Uncanny Valley), Dries Verhoeven (Happiness), Jeroen van Loon (Ephemeral Data) and many more. But who are we humans in the light of our enthusias tic embracing of new technologies? After all you cannot think about technology without thinking about humanity and you cannot reflect on humanity without reflecting on our use of technology.
Therefore, at SPRING we perform not only technology, we perform humanity in the programme line Super Human: Performing Humanity. French choreographer Boris Charmatz celebrates the skills and variety of the human body (and mind) in his show 10000 gestures, a living data-base of 10.000 movements. Greek choreographer Tzeni Argyriou (ANΩNYMO) shows the role of traditional dance in the creation of communities before social media. Naomi Velissariou delves into the social mediarun pop culture.
This brings us to questions about where we come from and what forms our cultural identities. The programme line Global Affairs: Performing Politics takes us round the world, e.g. to Iran, Taiwan, Nauru or Cameroon.
SPRING takes over the city again with installations and performances by Lawrence Malstaf (Polygon), Zora Snake (Transfrontalier), Jeroen van Loon (Ephemeral Data) Andrea Božic & Julia Willms (Porocity) and more. We perform inside the Stadskantoor (City Hall), in Hoog Catharijne, on the Neude and in the theatres of this city. Of course, all these programme lines are closely interwoven. They are complimented by a conference on Performing Robots (organized by our partner the University of Utrecht), by SPRING Academy, by talks and discussions, by parties and food in our festival centre cafe Mevr. Dudok in Stadsschouwburg Utrecht.
” We cross Uncanny Valleys and Pleasant Islands and lead through a wide range of genres and art forms.”
The title of the opening show is programmatic: Attractor, by two renowned Australian companies, Dancenorth and Lucy Guerin Inc. We hope to attract you, to bring you SOMETHING (out of nothing) – this is the name of the new show by Kris Verdonck and ICK –, so that we can be All Around you, which is the title of the closing show by Mette Ingvartsen. We invite you to follow us on this journey through the arts and the world.