Mette Ingvartsen - Skatepark

Skate park

Behind the skate ramps, graffiti is sprayed, music is played and people play basketball, laugh and dance. But above all, gravity is tested with dizzying journeys from slope to slope in all types of jumps and tricks, parabolas and 'figure 8's'. Choreographer Mette Ingvartsen, together with a colourful group of local skaters from 11 to 35 years old and professional dancers, explores the speed, power and energy of movement on wheels, a nostalgic reference to her youth.

With a good dose of perseverance, a sense of experimentation and a touch of healthy rivalry, the skaters come together in the shared space, with special attention to the other. Giving each other space and simply giving one more try in a feeling of fun, freedom and connection - that's what it's all about. Where one person succeeds in excelling, another falls flat, but that person always receives encouraging applause.

The skaters' constant attempts to stay balanced, their lively interactions and playful collisions also amount to something larger and more telling: what could we as a society learn about new forms of unity and coexistence?

'Ingvartsen lets the fun and rebellion of skate culture explode in the theatre. This energy bomb proves it: punx not dead!' - De Standaard