Wim Vandekeybus / Ultima Vez / Toneelgroep Amsterdam

In the autumn 2001, Ivo Van Hove, director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam, invited Wim Vandekeybus to be a guest-director for this Dutch repertory company. For this unique project, which formerly had the work-title Metamorphosen, Vandekeybus cast three experienced actors from Toneelgroep Amsterdam and eight performers from his own company, Ultima Vez. Poet and author Peter Verhelst, who has also written texts for the Ultima Vez productions Scratching the Inner Fields and Blush, wrote the text. David Eugene Edwards, known as the singer-songwriter of the American band 16 Horsepower and his solo-project Woven Hand, signs the music. The performance's soundscape also includes existing numbers from other artists. The departure points for the creation were two completely independent phenomena: sonic booms and night radio. Image is faster than sound. With night radio, the sound provokes images. Voices and sounds set the imagination in motion. Stories and memories fuse. Everything changes.

In Sonic Boom Wim Vandekeybus bridges the gap between gut emotion and imagination, between the physical and verbal, between images and stories, between dance and theatre. It is muggy, almost too hot to move. At night people try to cool down in the sea, but in vain. In a square, a young woman asks a man for money. She has to take the boat. The man gives some money, wondering if she will really get on the boat. He decides to follow her.

In a hotel room an old man is waiting for a woman. Years ago they were lovers for a night. The woman had asked him for money and he followed her. There's a feverish heat. People wait until night has fallen before they venture out. They meet in the square, on the dike, and later in hotel rooms. The radio is always audible in the background. People can no longer distinguish reality from hallucination

»Life is chaos. Rules are fear given shape. So Vandekeybus doesn't accept reality. He compels you to go some of the way with him, and is constantly changing the context. Let's hope he keeps doing this for a long time to come.« Spits, NL

»It is a touching performance that reduces to silence and that gives you the feeling of walking out of a dream. In such a hallucinating way Vandekeybus fills the stage. Not only with beautiful dancers whose body control verges on the incredible, but this time also with actors.« De Volkskrant, 22.4.2003, NL

www.ultimavez.comwww.toneelgroepamsterdam.nl

direction, choreography, scenography: Wim VandekeybusText: Peter Verhelstadditional texts: Ultima Vez, Joop Admiraal, Kitty Courbois und Titus Muizelaarmusic: David Eugene Edwards (16 Horsepower) und anderecreated with and performed by: Joop Admiraal, Kitty Courbois, Titus Muizelaar und acht Tänzern von Ultima Vez: Laura Arís Alvarez, Elena Fokina, Jozef Frucek, Ina Geerts, Robert M. Hayden, Gérman Jauregui Allue, Linda Kapetanea, Thomas Steyaertalso created with: Thi-Mai Nguyenartistic assistant: Eduardo Torrojaassistant to the director: Greet Van Poecklight creation: Wim Vandekeybus, Ralf Nonnstyling & costumes: Isabelle Lhoas, Assistenz: Frédéric Denisassistant styling & costumes: Daniel Huard, Sascha Van Rielsound designer & engineer: Benjamin Dandoyset & costumes produced by: Workshop Toneelgroep Amsterdamproduction: Toneelgroep Amsterdam & Ultima Vez 
co-produced by: Festival de Marseille, PACT Zollverein/Choreographisches Zentrum NRW (Essen) and Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam

Ultima Vez is supported by the Flemish Community. With the cooperation of the Flemish Community Commission of the Brussels Capital Region