METTE INGVARTSEN

A skate park on stage: 12 skaters and dancers give rise to this new piece by choreographer and dancer Mette Ingvartsen in which their collective multiple movements create a powerful density of energy and movement. More than a smooth spectacle of virtuoso feats, Skate Park marks the emergence of a community – one defined by persistence and hard work within the ongoing practice of individuals who try, fall, and push the limits of the possible, alone but together. A number of skateboarders are selected in each city they visit in order to create links with local residents and reach audiences and communities that do not normally go to the theatre.

Mette Ingvartsen is a Danish choreographer and dancer. She began her training in Amsterdam in 1999 and continued her studies in Brussels, graduating from P.A.R.T.S. in 2004. The hybrid nature of her choreographic work fuses dance with other disciplines, such as the visual arts, technology and language. Ingvartsen established her company in 2003 and since then her work has been shown throughout Europe, as well as in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Asia. She has been artist-in-residence at Kaaitheater in Brussels (2012-2016), Volksbühne in Berlin, and associated with the APAP network. She holds a PhD in choreography from UNIARTS / Lund University in Sweden. Besides making, performing, writing and lecturing, her practice also includes teaching and sharing research through workshops with students at universities and art schools. She has collaborated and performed with Xavier Le Roy, Bojana Cvejic, Jan Ritsema and Boris Charmatz and was featured as part of the Mercat de les Flors Constel·lació series in January 2023.

Concept and choreography Mette Ingvartsen / With Damien Delsaux, Manuel Faust, Aline Boas, Mary Pop Wheels, Sam Gelis, Fouad Nafili, Julia Rubies Subirós, Thomas Birzan, Briek Neuckermans, Indreas Kifleyesus, Arthur Vannes, Camille Gecchele, Mathias Thiers i skaters locals / Choreography assistant Michael Pomero / Sound design Anne van de Star, Peter Lenaerts / Lighting design Minna Tiikkainen / Music Felix Kubin, Mord Records, Why the eye, sonaBLAST! Records, Rrose, The Fanny Pads, Restive Plaggona / Dramaturgy Bojana Cvejić / Costume Jennifer Defays / Schenography Pierre Jambe/Antidote / Thcnical design group Stephane Thonnard / Schenography construction Construcció taller del Theatre National Bruxelles: Joachim Pochet, Joachim Hesse, Pierre Jardon, Yves Philippaerts, Andrea Messana, Boyd Gates / Technical direction Hans Meijer / Sound technicians Milan Van Doren, Yrjana Rankka, Filip Vilhelmsson / Light techinicans Bennert Vancottem, Jan-Simon De Lille / Kids supervisor Billie Meeussen, Victor Perez Hernandez / Production and administration office Joey Ng / Production Oihana Azpillaga Camio / Communication Jeroen Goffings / Management Ruth Collier
Production Great Investment vzw / Co-production La Danse en grande forme (Cndc – Angers, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, La Manufacture CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux ・ La Rochelle, CCN de Caen en Normandie, L’echangeur – CDCN Hauts-de- France, CCN2 – Grenoble, La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val de Marne, CCN – Ballet national de Marseille, CCN de Nantes, CCN d’Orleans, Atelier de Paris / CDCN, Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix – Hauts-de-France, La Place de La Danse – CDCN Toulouse – Occitanie, La MC2 – Grenoble), Ruhrtriennale, Wiener Festwochen & Tanzquartier Wien, La Villette & Theatre Chaillot, deSingel, Kaaitheater & Theatre National Wallonie- Bruxelles, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER, Next Festival, Charleroi danse centre choregraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, Theater Rotterdam, Perpodium / With the support of Fondation d’entreprise Hermes, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden / Residencess Rosas, Charleroi danse centre choregraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, deSingel
Great Investment is supported by the Flemish authorities, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), the Belgian Federal Government Tax Shelter and the Danish Arts Council.