Program Main Stage

16.07 | 19:00 | 55’

Kalamata Dance Megaron / Main Stage

ANTON LACHKY COMPANY

THE OTHERS

About the performance

FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY / AGES 6+

“People do not decide their future. They choose their own habits, and their habits determine their future.”

— F. Matthias Alexander

The Others is the story of four people living in a strangely isolated world. A living hell made out of plastic, entirely devoid of other living beings, and surrounded by impenetrable, translucent screens. Will its inhabitants manage to liberate themselves from this drab and dreary existence? Will they want to? To keep fate at bay, to keep boredom in check, they dance. Day after day, they dance. With precision, with fervour, with passion. A fortuitous encounter, a refusal to stop searching — maybe, just maybe, our four friends will end up committing the most crucial, the most rebellious of all acts: Maybe they will allow themselves to be amazed at life.

Many thinkers have pointed out the importance of narration, of storytelling, in the process towards what we call civilisation. We need stories to “make sense” of the world around & within us. As philosopher Emil Cioran put it, “A civilisation begins with a myth and it ends with doubt. We need to reinvent our own myths”... Listening to the latest scientific reports, it appears that the end of our thermo-industrial civilisation is nigh. It seems that we have irrevocably entered the era of doubt — or, perhaps, the age of possibility! This new piece for a young audience by Anton Lachky starts with a “new myth” that was invented for the occasion. A myth that points toward the downfall of our modern world, whilst sketching the contours of a possible rebirth.

The Others premiered at Charleloi Danse in May 2021 and has already been performed 55 times. The world tour is scheduled for a total of 100 dates across 10 countries until next season. The performance has received the 2022 Maeterlinck Prize for “Best Dance Piece”, the Award of Belgium’s Minister of Education, and the “Coup de Foudre de la Presse” Award.

 

With the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International and Wallonie-Bruxelles Théâtre Danse

  • Choreography: Anton Lachky
  • Danced by: Evelyne de Weerdt, Dunya Narli, Nino Patuano, Lewis Cooke
  • Text: Eléonore Valère-Lachky
  • Greek Translation: Menelaos Kyparissis
  • Narration: Aurora Marion
  • Production: Anton Lachky Company
  • Co-Production: Mars / Mons Arts de la Scène, Charleroi Danse / Centre Chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Centre Culturel de Verviers, Pierre de Lune Centre Scénique Jeunes Publics de Bruxelles, Le Centre Culturel du Brabant Wallon
  • With support from: La Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles et de la Loterie National / FWB, and with the assistance of La Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Service Général de la Création Artistique – Service de la Danse
  • Studio provided by: Le Marni, Le Centre Culturel Jacques Franck, La Roseraie, Le CCBW, La Balsamine, Charleroi Danse

 

Anton Lachky was born in Slovakia and moved to Belgium in 2002 to study at P.A.R.T.S., the school founded by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. One year later, he embarked on his performing career with Akhram Khan, with whom he toured the world with the production MA. He then left the celebrated company and returned to Belgium to co-found the collective Les SlovaKs. With three productions and several world tours, the company gained worldwide renown. From 2008 onwards, Anton received invitations from major institutions as guest choreographer: He produced softandhard at the Helsinki City Theatre (FI), and A Perfect Day to Dream at the Icelandic Dance Company (IS), for which he received the Choreographer of the Year Award at the 2013 Griman Awards. He created Kids in a Play in Zagreb, for which he was nominated for the award of best choreographer. In 2013, he made Sens Interdit in collaboration with the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD). In 2014, he presented Magical Road in St. Gallen (CH), and À Demain at the 2014 Venice Biennale. In 2015, he designed Wonderland for the Gothenburg Opera Ballet (SU) and Dreamers for the Scottish Dance Theatre, followed by Private Games for the Body Traffic Company in Los Angeles (US) in 2016. His highly original creations have received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. In 2012, he founded his own company, the Anton Lachky Company. He created Mind a Gap (with more than 40 performances around the world), thus putting his creative signature on his first piece under the auspices of his own company. In 2015, Anton was appointed choreographer in residence at Charleroi Danses (BE), and created his second work Side Effects. In 2017, he presented his first show for young audiences: Cartoon. Cartoon was selected for the Rencontres Jeunes Publics de Huy project and was also awarded by the Belgian Minister of Culture Alda Gréoli. In 2018, he produced Family Journey in Prague, for the company DOT 504 and Fortuneville for the Iceland Dance Company, for which he was nominated for Choreographer of the Year at the Griman Awards. In 2019, he created LUDUM, but the corresponding tour was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, he created Les Autres, his second show intended for young audiences.