A documentary in which two stories cross: one about the birth of the atom bomb, the other about the German anthropologist Aby Warburg, who studied the Hopi Indians. The film is preceded by a lecture performance. Jerry Killick, one of the original Forced Entertainment actors, steps into Aby Warburg’s shoes and gives his lecture on the religious symbolism of the Hopi Indians.

Led by the director and artist Ann Van de Vyvere (Firma Irma), a group of
‘observers’ has been studying reality in all its forms. Together, they bring surrealism to reality. How can we be sure of what we know? How do we measure what is normal and what is not? Hocus Focus explores the boundary
between the enthralling reality and real science.

The dancers Cynthia Loemij (Rosas), Mark Lorimer (Rosas, ZOO) and the cellist Thomas Luks (Il Fondamento, Leporello) enter into a dialogue between sound and movement. For their musical basis they chose 11 Capriccios for cello by Joseph Marie Clément dall’Abaco (1710-1805).

The intention behind nothing’s for something is to make the
hidden moments in life visible and expose the reality behind the visible
world. Their sources of inspiration are Paul Klee, who danced while he
painted, Rainer Maria Rilke, the perfectionist of form and method, and
Georges Perec, the master of stories of everyday life. In nothing’s for something,
Avdal and Shinozaki go back to their roots and allow the experiences of
their site-specific projects to permeate this production for larger
theatres.

In her latest creation, Cindy Van Acker goes further in her meticulous, almost scientific research into the relations between body and mind, sound and rhythm. Six dancers on the stage. As if in a relay race, they shift their formations into quintets, quartets, trios, duos and sextets.