Dancers populate the playing field. They each have a clear goal in mind, but the road to it is filled with obstacles, both physical and mental. A poignant performance about the need for flexibility, perseverance and cooperation.

In HOW IT ENDS the dancers are not only confronted with each other, but also with life-size dominoes. In this way the Dutch-Serbian choreographer Jelena Kostić brings the spontaneity and capriciousness of life to the dance floor. In the most literal sense of the word, the blocks, with their unpredictable behaviour, throw up obstacles.

Free Running

Jelena Kostić uses the body as the ultimate narrative instrument in a dance language full of contrasts and emotions. For HOW IT ENDS she found inspiration in free running, a genre within urban dance in which the dancers relate to different obstacles and elements in their environment.

Personal experiences as a motor

The starting point for HOW IT ENDS was Jelena’s interest in the workings of focus and tunnel vision, something she herself has often had to deal with in her career as a dancer and choreographer. Perseverance, trial and error, getting up, starting all over again and sometimes giving up. As part of her research for this performance, Jelena spoke with not only professional athletes and dancers, but also with women in top positions. These concrete, personal stories were the driving force behind a performance that is ultimately about universal and recognisable human experiences.

Version for two dancers

HOW IT ENDS premiered with four dancers in March of 2020, shortly before the lockdown. Because of the corona measures the performance has been adapted for two dancers. This entails the shift of focus from group dynamics to the dynamics between two individuals, who are ultimately dependent on each other.

Press

“The production is an ode to people at play. With blocks, they can occupy themselves endlessly.”

– Theaterkrant

CREDITS

Choreography – Jelena Kostić
Dancers – Noëmi Wagner, Blazej Jasinski [in the version for 4 dancers also: Pauline De Laet and Anne Roeper]
Dramaturgical & artistic advisor, concept development – Lou Cope
Artistic advisor & repetitor – Judit Ruiz Onandi & Thomas Falk
Composer – Dyane Donck
Set design – Ascon de Nijs
Lighting design – Dominique Pollet
Costume design – Biljana Grgur
Art work / campaign design – Nataša Radosavljević & Nikola Kostić
Communication & PR – Laura Roling
Production – Andrea van Bussel
Business manager – Petra de Haan

Supported by: Fonds 21, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, Fonds Podiumkunsten, BNG Cultuurfonds, Gemeente Tilburg en Provincie Noord-Brabant