With his imposing sleek white design, the staircase provides a precarious balance. Only one of the people on board has to move to the other side and the whole thing tips over. Choreographer Pia Meuthen, whose work combines dance and circus with architectural scenography, was immediately fascinated by the object and its theatrical expressiveness. “The floating staircase is a beautiful work of art that has countless possibilities for being played with. It invites to dance and acrobatic use, both on top and on the sides. The tip towers six metres above the water surface. The enormous impact of the tilt creates a great physical challenge for the performers. The threat of falling off is real, the instability reinforces both the vulnerability of the performers and their changing power relationships.”
The Weight of Water is a short open-air performance by a cast of experienced dancers/acrobats and talented trainees. The stakes are high in the dance on the floating and tilting staircase: the six performers must respond immediately to the movement of each other and the object. In so doing, it demonstrates a need for power, but also shows dependence – on each other, and on larger uncontrollable elements.
Artwork: Rob van Dam
Choreography: Pia Meuthen
Composition: Davide Bellotta
Dance/Acrobatics: Tarek Rammo, Francesco Barba, Fynn Neb, Jefta Tanate, Lucy Steinfeld and Róisín Harten
Costumes: Sanne Reichert
Assistant choreography & repetitor: Miquel de Jong
The Weight of Water can be seen as part of the Garden of Earthly Delights, from Thursday 26 until Sunday 29 May at 16.00 and 20.00 hours.
The Weight of Water is a co-production of Panama Pictures and Bosch Parade. Panama Pictures is the in-house company of the Verkadefabriek in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and is structurally supported by Fonds Podiumkunsten, the province of North Brabant and the municipality of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Weight of Waterwas realised thanks to a grant from the Pop-Up Cultural Fund of the municipality of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
