THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0-Jan Martens(12+)
27th Cyprus Contemporary Dance Festival
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10.00 €
Balcony, Box Left, Box Right, Orchestra
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“Open all pores to this gem. And above all, don't forget to breathe,” wrote Nieuwsblad in 2014 about The Dog Days Are Over. The reviews back then did not lie: this production marked the absolute breakthrough for Jan Martens, with an extensive international tour of more than 100 performances. In 2025, Jan Martens and GRIP recreated this successful show with a new cast.
The American photographer Philippe Halsman once said: “When you ask a person to jump, his attention is mostly directed toward the act of jumping and the mask falls so that the real person appears.” With The Dog Days Are Over, Jan Martens took this statement as a starting point and, through the act of jumping, exposed the person behind the dancer.
In The Dog Days Are Over, the dancer is defined as a pure performer, striving for perfection. Subjected to a complex, mathematical, vigorous and exhausting choreography executed in forced uniformity, the eight dancers ultimately slip up. And then their masks fall.
Thanks to its radical choreographic form, The Dog Days Are Over revealed the audience’s perception of dancers, choreographers, spectators and the cultural policy of the time. Ten years on, these questions remain highly relevant given current political and social trends: Where does the thin line between art and entertainment lie? Who are we as an audience when we contemplate the suffering of dancers as if it were a bullfight in an arena? Is contemporary dance striptease for the elite? The Dog Days Are Over prompts the viewer to shift their position: from being merely subjected to the experience to actively reflecting on it.
Jan Martens (1984, Belgium) studied at the Fontys Dance Academy in Tilburg and graduated in 2006 from the dance department of the Artesis Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp. Since 2010, he has been creating his own choreographic work, which over the years has been presented with increasing regularity to both national and international audiences. Jan Martens’ work is nurtured by the belief that every body can communicate and that every body has something to say. This direct communication expresses itself in transparent forms. His work functions as a sanctuary in which the notion of time becomes tangible once again, and where there is space for observation and emotion, as well as reflection. To achieve this, he does not so much develop a movement language of his own, but rather reshapes and recontextualises existing idioms, allowing new ideas to emerge. In each new work, he seeks to redefine the relationship between audience and performer. Jan Martens was awarded the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Prize for North Brabant (2014) and the prestigious Charlotte Köhler Prize (2015) for his work. In France, he was made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is an associated artist at DE SINGEL Antwerp, La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand SN, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Maison de la danse Lyon, and the Lyon Dance Biennale.
Choreography: Jan Martens
Repetitor / Artistic assistance: Naomi Gibson
Artistic assistance / Coaching: Steven Michel, Piet Defrancq
Performers: Pierre Bastin, Camilla Bundel, Jim Buskens, Zoë Chungong, Simon Lelièvre, Florence Lenon, Elisha Mercelina, Dan Mussett, Pierre Adrien Touret, Zora Westbroek, Maisie Woodford, Paolo Yao
Original cast: Piet Defrancq, Naomi Gibson, Nelle Hens, Julien Josse, Kimmy Ligtvoet, Cherish Menzo, Steven Michel, Laura Vanborm and/or Morgane Ribbens, Ilse Ghekiere, Victor Dumont, Connor Schumacher, Caspar Knops, Amerigo Delli Bove, Daniel Barkan
Dramaturgy: Renée Copraij
Lighting design: Jan Fedinger
Costume styling 2025: Sofie Durnez
Tour technicians: Michel Spang, Elke Verachtert, Nele Verreyken
Graphic design: Nick Mattan
Graphic design internship: Joëlle Desmet
Physiotherapy and osteopathy: Fourward Gent, Inge Haeyaert, Lode Verreyen
Production: GRIP (Francisca Alves, Hanne Doms, Anneleen Hermans, Rudi Meulemans, Klaartje Oerlemans, Jennifer Piasecki, Sylvie Svanberg, Nele Verreyken, Kato Wilms)
International distribution: A propic / Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent
Partners 2023–2027: La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand SN, Maison de la danse / Pôle européen de création, en soutien à la Biennale de Lyon
Dog days 2014 coproduction: Frascati Producties, SPRING Performing Arts Festival, DansBrabant, La Briqueterie CDC du Val-de-Marne, tanzhaus nrw and TAKT Dommelhof
Dog days 2025 coproduction: Theater Rotterdam, DE SINGEL, Le Carreau – Scène nationale de Forbach et de l’Est Mosellan, Perpodium
Dog days 2014 with the financial support of: The Government of Flanders and Performing Arts Fund NL
Dog days 2025 with the financial support of: The Flemish Government, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via Cronos Invest, bpost’s Star4U fund
Dog days 2014 with the support of: workspacebrussels and wpZimmer
Dog days 2014 thanks to: Dansateliers, Conny Janssen Danst, JAN and ICKamsterdam
Dog days 2025 thanks to: Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, c o r s o
With the support of: Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
www.grip.house | www.apropic.com
FB: @grip.artists @jan.martens.5249
IG: @grip.artists | @apropic_agency | @janmartenss
Duration: 75'
* 27th Cyprus Contemporary Dance Festival.
Organised by: Deputy Ministry of Culture (Department of Contemporary Culture) and Rialto Theatre.
Tickets: €10
Free entrance to students, soldiers, pensioners, holders of the Disability Card and dance professionals.
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