Review from: Circusstad Festival, Theater Rotterdam Small Hall, Rotterdam; 2nd May 2025, 17.15
In Meander, the five acrobats of Marta & Kim, Knot on Hands and Felix Zech join forces to weave a visual landscape, according to the publicity. Their blurb states: ‘They slide and climb over and under each other, go up in the air or intertwine into one body. Like a new river that finds its course, or like a flock of birds that flies as one body, that’s how Meander was born.’
Casually dressed in chinos or shorts and short-sleeved shirts, the acrobats start with pace, filling the stage as they move around and over each other to fast drumming, but the pace of movement and music slows to sustained physical noodling that runs the risk of a consequent loss of attention by the audience, all the more so when they start clambering over each in the dark, with just a single hand-held lamp, like a child’s night light, only sufficient to make out shapes vaguely. The pace steps up in the last minutes with a choreography of lifts and body rolls and the occasional handstand, and there’s a projection sequence reminiscent of slithering worms that washes over the acrobats as they slither.
Meander is an honest title. It seems more engaging to do than to watch, or perhaps it’s just not my cup of tea.
Concept: Knot on Hands, Marta & Kim, Felix Zech
Acting: Britt Timmermans, Mario Kunzi, Tijs Bastiaens, Kim-Jomi Alstadsæter, Felix Zech
Co-creation: Marta Alstadsæter
Dramaturgy: Marc Maris
Musical composition: Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek)
Mastering: Marlon Wolterink
Scenography & lighting design: Loes Schakenbos
Animation: Kaj Kian Rafael Fischer
Communication: Dance workshops, TENT
Production: Peggy Loch
Producer: Dansateliers, TENT
Co-producer: Cirklabo, Korzo
With the support of: Fonds 21, Gemeente Rotterdam, BNG Fonds, Dioraphte, Volkskracht, Fonds Podiumkunsten, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst
