Voice Noise

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 making his own choreographic work which, over the years, has been performed with increasing regularity before a national and international audience. The work of Martens is nurtured by the belief that each body can communicate, that each body has something to say. That direct communication expresses itself in transparent forms. His work is a sanctuary in which the notion of time becomes tangible again and in which there is room for observation and emotion as well as reflection. To achieve this result, he creates not so much a movement language of his own, but shapes and reuses existing idioms in a different context so that new ideas emerge. In each new work he tries to redraw the relation between public and performer. Martens’ first production I CAN RIDE A HORSE WHILST JUGGLING SO MARRY ME (2010) was a portrait of a generation of young women in a society dominated by social networks. It was followed by two love duets that he made at Frascati Amsterdam. A SMALL GUIDE ON HOW TO TREAT YOUR LIFETIME COMPANION (2011) was selected for Aerowaves 2011 and SWEAT BABY SWEAT (2011) for the Dutch Dance Festival 2012 and Circuit X 2013. He then created three shows about unconventional beauty, with performers whose bodies you do not expect in the context of contemporary dance: BIS (2012) for the then 62-year-old Truus Bronkhorst, LA BETE (2013) for the young actress Joke Emmers, and VICTOR (2013), a duet for a boy and a grown man that Martens created with director Peter Seynaeve. In 2014 Martens focused attention on the jump as movement in the group performance THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER (selected for Het TheaterFestival in Belgium), followed by the solo ODE TO THE ATTEMPT (2014) and the project THE COMMON PEOPLE (2016), a performance, social experiment and workshop in one, created in collaboration with film director Lukas Dhont. Martens’ show RULE OF THREE (2017) was a collaboration with the American sound artist NAH, and had its premiere at DE SINGEL in Antwerp, kicking off a trajectory as creative associate in 2017. The performance got nominated for a Zwaan (Swan) in the category ‘most impressive dance production 2018.’ De Zwanen are seen as the most prestigious dance prize within the Dutch performing arts field. In the 18/19 season, Martens engaged in three collaborations. Together with 13 youths and fABULEUS, he created PASSING THE BECHDEL TEST, a theatrical production in which their voices are interwoven with those of famous and less famous women from the present and the past. He also revised the successful 2011 production A SMALL GUIDE ON HOW TO TREAT YOUR LIFETIME COMPANION with two new dancers under the title PAULINE THOMAS as commissioned by CDCN Le Gymnase in Roubaix. In January 2019, Martens himself took the stage again in the solo lostmovements, in which he plunges into the universe of choreographer and friend Marc Vanrunxt (Kunst/Werk). In 19/20 Martens’ focus is on the premiere of any attempt will end in crushed bodies and shattered bones. A work for seventeen dancers between the ages of 17 and 70. The premiere – scheduled for April 24, 2020 at DE SINGEL (Antwerp, BE) was postponed due to the corona crisis and took in the end place on July 18 at Festival d’Avignon. On July 12, 2021 ELISABETH GETS HER WAYpremiered at Julidans (Amsterdam, NL). This solo created and performed by Jan Martens is a danced portrait of the Polish-born Elisabeth Chojnacka (1939–2017), an exceptionally talented and passionate musician who contributed to the revival of harpsichord music in the middle of the twentieth century. Both any attempt… and ELISABETH GETS HER WAY were selected for Het TheaterFestival (BE). Since 2022 Martens combines his role as co-artistic director with GRIP with that of associate choreographer with Opera Ballet Vlaanderen. In FUTUR PROCHE (2022), together with fifteen dancers from OBV, two children, and harpsichordist Goska Isphording, he built a performance about the imminent future. After two previous successful productions, Martens again finds inspiration in a surprising, contemporary repertoire for the centuries-old harpsichord. The performance had its world premiere on July 19, 2022 at the Cour d’honneur of the prestigious Festival d’Avignon. On 21 March 2024, VOICE NOISE will premiere at De Singel in Antwerp, with an eclectic mix of forgotten musical pieces from the past 80 years in which the women’s voice takes centre stage. Together, six dancers unite the two major themes in Martens’ dance language: his obsession with numbers, geometry and patterns, and his love for the unique body language of the individual dancer. Martens was awarded the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds prize for North Brabant (2014) and the prestigious Charlotte Köhler Prize (2015) for his work. He is associated artist at DE SINGEL Antwerp, La Comédie scène nationale de Clermont-Ferrand, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, Maison de la danse Lyon and Lyon Dance Biennale.

choreography: Jan Martens

Co-creation and performance: Elisha Mercelina, Steven Michel, Courtney May Robertson, Mamadou Wagué, Loeka Willems, Sue-Yeon Youn e/o Pierre Adrien Touret, Zora Westbroek

Musica:

– “Prime Numbers”, dalla collezione “American Rituals”, 1984 – scritto ed eseguito da Cheri Knight – Per gentile concessione dell’artista e di Freedom To Spend / RVNG Intl.

– “Mouthpiece I”, album “Mouthpieces (Live)”, 2000 – Scritto ed eseguito da Erin Gee – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Erin Gee. Tutti i diritti d’autore sono di Erin Gee – https://www.erin-gee.com

– “Trio”, album “Voice”, 2002 – scritto, interpretato e prodotto da Maja S. K. Ratkje – coprodotto da Jazzkammer (John Hegre & Lasse Marhaug) – ? + © Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Rune Grammofon 2002 – https://ratkje.com

– “Ain’t It A Lonely Feeling’, album ‘The Iron Pot Cooker’, 1975 – Scritto ed eseguito da Camille Yarbrough – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Camille Yarbrough e ? Universal Music Publishing © Vanguard Recording Society, Inc.

– “Raag Des, Sakhi Mohan”, album “Living Music From The Past”, 1935 – Scritto ed eseguito da Kesarbai Kerkar – Copyright Underscore Records

– “No One’s Little Girl’, album ‘Moving’, 1977 – Scritto ed eseguito da The Raincoats – ? Utilizzato su autorizzazione di BMG Rights Management GmbH e per gentile concessione di The Raincoats – http://theraincoats.net

– “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child”, album “Vocal Recital”, 1940 – Eseguito da Ruby Elzy – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Cambria Master Recordings

– ‘SAFE’, album ‘Good Luck’, 2023 – Scritto ed eseguito da Debby Friday – ? Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Bank Robber Music And Rough Trade Publishing e © Sub Pop Records – https://debbyfriday.com

– “Not Be Alright”, album “Miss America”, 1988 – Scritto ed eseguito da Mary Margaret O’Hara – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Mary Margaret O’Hara. Tutti i diritti d’autore di Mary Margaret O’Hara.

– “Varisevalehti”, album “Tuhka – EP”, 2022 – Scritto ed eseguito da Cucina Povera – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di Maria U. Rossi / Cucina Povera. Tutti i diritti d’autore di Cucina Povera. – http://www.cucinapovera.bandcamp.com/

– “Bella ciao sul femminicidio”, album “Calendario Civile”, 2019 – Eseguito dal coro delle mondine di porporana – Utilizzato su autorizzazione del coro delle mondine di porporana. Tutti i diritti d’autore coro delle mondine di porporana – https://www.facebook.com/mondineporporana

– “Surge”, album Sinaa, 2006 – Scritto e interpretato da Tanya Tagaq – Pubblicato da Songs of Six Shooter B (SOCAN) / Admin by Peermusic – Per gentile concessione di Six Shooter Records, Inc. – https://www.tanyatagaq.com

– “Sol Lucet”, album An Old Hall Ladymass Scritto da Marianne Reidarsdatter Eriksen – Eseguito da TRIO MEDIÆVAL – Utilizzato su autorizzazione di C+P 2023: 2L (Lindberg Lyd AS) – https://www.triomediaeval.no – https://www.mariannereidarsdattereriksen.com

Light design: Jan Fedinger

Costumes: Sofie Durnez
Scenography: Joris van Oosterwijk
Costumes and scenography realization: Théâtre de Liège
Internship: Malick Cissé
Artistic Advisor: Marc Vanrunxt, Rudi Meulemans, Femke Gyselinck
Trailer and Teaser: Stanislav Dobák
Graphic Design: Nick Mattan

Production: GRIP

International distribution: A Propic – Line Rousseau, Marion Gauvent, Lara van Lookeren

Coproduction: La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand, Maison de la Danse de Lyon, De Singel international arts center, Théâtre de Liège, Julidans Amsterdam, Le Manège – Scène Nationale de Reims, Romaeuropa festival, DDD – Festival Dias da Dança – Teatro Rivoli – Porto, Scène Nationale de Forbach, Charleroi danse – centre chorégraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, Festspielhaus St-Pölten, Tanzhaus nrw Düsseldorf, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Équinoxe – Scène Nationale de Châteauroux, Theater Rotterdam, Perpodium Residencies: La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand (FR), DE SINGEL (Antwerp, BE), Charleroi danse – centre chorégraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles (BE)

With the financial support of the Flemish Government, Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government via BNPPFFF