En–Knap & Guy Weizman, Roni Haver

Phobia

50 min

#en–knap group's repertoire#co-productions

2015

Dynamic, daring, unpolished, yet also touching and humorous. Award-winning choreographers Guy Weizman and Roni Haver (Club Guy & Roni as artistic duo) create powerful and seductive dance theatre. In recent years, the company has produced several performances exploring boundaries and their transgression. Phobia deals with fear: the limits of fear and the fear of the limitless.

These are confusing times. The world seems vast, yet at the same time feels like a village. Global conflicts reach our homes without barriers, generating fear and insecurity. Fear can offer protection, but it can also create barriers and prevent people from taking a step into the unknown. It can lie at the root of xenophobia, fuelling irrational hostility between people and countries.

With Phobia, the choreographers investigate the mechanisms of fear and what happens when we try to remain open despite our fear of the unknown; when we accept the unpredictability of others and realise that, if we do not want to suffer, we should avoid inflicting suffering on others. The performance asks what it means to meet one another as equals, simply as people. It dives headfirst into an urgent and timely subject.

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The idea for Phobia was inspired by a text by the French writer and philosopher Albert Camus. During the Second World War he was the initiator and editor of the resistance paper Combat. In 1946 he wrote a series of essays, titled ‘Ni victimes ni bourreaux’ (Neither Victims nor Executioners). Camus abhorred totalitarian regimes, whether left or right, disapproved of the death penalty, pleaded for solidarity and community spirit and stood up for human rights. He believed that we should graciously resist injustice and ideological fanatics. In our time he is portrayed as the humane literator. The strive for humanity and open mindedness play a central role.

We live in terror because persuasion is no longer possible; (…) Because we live in a world of abstractions, of bureaus and machines, of absolute ideas and of crude messianism. We suffocate among people who think they are absolutely right, whether in their machines or in their ideas. (…) To come to terms, one must understand what fear means: what it implies and what it rejects. It implies and rejects the same fact: a world where murder is legitimate, and where human life is considered trifling.

Albert Camus

bio

Guy Weizman and Roni Haver are Israeli choreographers based in the Netherlands. Both began their careers with Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv before dancing with leading European companies, including Ultima Vez, Lanonima Imperial and Galili Dance. In 2002, they founded their own company in Groningen, creating mysterious, musical and visually striking performances that explore contemporary themes and extend beyond the boundaries of dance.

Their work has been presented internationally and recognised with major awards, including the Russian Golden Mask Award and the Dutch Swan Award. They have also created works for leading institutions and companies including Nederlands Dans Theater, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and Carte Blanche.

credits

Directed and choreographed by Guy Weizman in Roni Haver

Created and performed by Luke Thomas Dunne, Ida Hellsten, Bence Mezei, Ana Štefanec, Tamás Tuza, Nik Rajšek, Camilo Chapela, Angela Herenda de Kroo, Dunja Jocic, Veerle van Overloop, Adam Peterson

Musicians (live) Slagwerk Den Haag (Pepe Garcia, Niels Meliefste, Enric Monfort)

Music Hugo Morales, Pepe Garcia

Text, dramaturgy Martijn de Rijk, Bas Heijne

Light design Wil Frikken

Costume design Slavna Martinovic

Photography Ewoud Rooks

Design Pek & Veren

Production En–Knap Productions

Co–production Club Guy & Roni

En–Knap Productions

Founder and artistic director Iztok Kovač

Financial manager Julija Travančić

Executive producer Marjeta Lavrič

Assistant producer Karmen Keržar

Head of public relations and editing Nina Smerkol

Programme organiser and coordinator Katja Gabrijelčič

Technical coordinator Jaka Šimenc

Technical team Luka Curk, Hotimir Knific, Gal Škrjanec Skaberne

The programme of En–Knap Productions, administrator of Španski Borci, is financially supported by: City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture, which also supports Španski Borci activities, and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia