Arena/Act Three

Arena Act Three by Chantal Yzermans , Festival International des Rencontres Chorégraphiques de Seine Saint Denis, 2009 photo Ronald Stoops

Arena / Act Three is built on the deconstruction of Greco-Roman wrestling. Suspended outside of time, two male bodies in wrestling attire approach, embrace, and confront one another in a ritualised encounter with sacrificial overtones. Oscillating between intimacy and struggle,  the work deconstructs  the vocabulary of wrestling into a performance.

‘In the arena, suspended out of time, two male bodies in wrestler costumes share the space, approach, embrace, or confront each other in a battle with sacrificial overtones. The changing lights of day and night shape them like ancient sculptures exposed to view. Outside the ring, a voice chants the sequences like rounds, organizing the elements of the mysterious ceremony. At the heart of this confrontation, where embrace, rupture, and domination succeed each other, one feels the shock of desire, the contact of muscles, of skin, a muted erotic violence that resonates throughout the entire scene'.

concept & creation Chantal Yzermans

performance Rashaun Mitchell, Silas Riener

costume Maartje Van Bourgognie

première France

Festival Internationale des Rencontres Chorégraphiques Seine Saint Denis, FR

15 mai 2009

première Belgium

Amperdans 2009, Troubleyn /Jan Fabre Antwerpen , BE

October 2009

With The Support Of
Jan Fabre / Troubleyn, Antwerpen (BE), Monty Arts Center-Antwerpen (BE), Rencontres Chorégraphiques Seine-Saint-Denis (FR)