Jan Martens & Marc Vanrunxt & Truus Bronkhorst
2013Jan Martens, Truus Bronkhorst and Marc Vanrunxt are makers of different ages and from different backgrounds. Nevertheless, all three represent the same genuine, uncompromising dance that stimulates the audience and keeps it on its toes. On the basis of that basic idea, they teamed up for SHE WAS A VISITOR.
SHE WAS A VISITOR is a solo performance for dancer and choreographer Truus Bronkhorst and was jointly written by Jan Martens, Marc Vanrunxt and Truus herself. Truus and Marc had already collaborated and got to know Jan as a young choreographer in the autumn of 2012 through BIS, a show with Jan as choreographer, Truus as dancer and Marc as advisor. During the creation of BIS, they got to know each other’s temperaments, idioms and artistic ambitions. The plan for a further collaboration grew. With SHE WAS A VISITOR, three strong-willed artists teamed up to create a piece that is focused on the individuality and unicity of the three makers rather than on compromises or the random juxtaposition of elements. Truus’s solo was given a strict, minimalist form, but emanates a slumbering emotional overtone. The longings, hopes and disappointments of the three makers are reflected in the dance.
Truus Bronkhorst (b. 1951) was already active as a dancer and choreographer in the 1970s before she founded her own company, ‘de Stichting van de Toekomst’, in 1986 with which, usually with Marien Jongewaard, she produced work of her own such as Wonderful World (1995), I Feel Good (2002) and Exit (2005). She first worked with Jan Martens on the solo BIS (2012) and subsequently also on the solo SHE WAS A VISITOR (2013).
Marc Vanrunxt (b. 1960) is a choreographer and dancer who researches the limits of dance as a medium and of choreography as a language. In his work he tries to redefine concepts such as time, space, energy and presence, and he works on opposites such as visible/invisible and tangible/intangible. His artistic lexicon has its roots in the punk movement and in abstract expressionism. Marc worked as an advisor on Jan’s show BIS (2012) and later as a maker on SHE WAS A VISITOR (2013).
“In her new show, SHE WAS A VISITOR, Truus Bronkhorst makes clear that age is irrelevant if you can show something that captivates the spectator.”
- Constant Meijers, Theaterkrant, 13 December 2013
“Truus always carries rage in her body. And pride. Now she strides barefoot over the black like a Greek goddess, her arms raised like a marble column.’ […] ‘In the poses, you can identify the hand of Marc Vanrunxt, collaborating with the talented Jan Martens, whose air boxing and tugs-of-war with invisible partners are recognisable.”
- Annette Embrechts, De Volkskrant, 08 November 2013 ***
PREMIERE: 06 November 2013, Toneelschuur Haarlem (NL)
BY: Truus Bronkhorst, Marc Vanrunxt and Jan Martens
WITH: Truus Bronkhorst
DURATION: 60 minutes
PRODUCTION: de Stichting van de Toekomst
INTERNATIONAL DIFFUSION: A Propic / Line Rousseau and Marion Gauvent
COPRODUCTION: ICKamsterdam and Kunst/Werk Antwerpen
WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF: Performing Arts Fund NL, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts and Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
WITH THANKS TO: Monty Kultuurfaktorij