Thursday 14 January 2016


I`m Here Conny Janssen, Saturday 9th January 2016

Schouwburg Arnhem



Did you ever feel like a loner inside the chaos of the people rushing through the city? Nowadays we are often confronted with the rush of time. Everything needs to be faster, higher, stronger and even more efficient. It seems like there is no ending and no satisfaction. We always aim for a product and the human being itself becomes one of these products- the product of society.
With a rework of her piece „I`m here“ Conny Janssen focus on the lost of the individual inside the rough city life. Thirteen dancers present different personalities that nothing have in common except of their need to connect and be loved. Janssen plays with the contrast of the stage setting and the intention that drives her dancers into movement. 

The pictures and the video installation of the Dutch photographer Carel van Hees brings the public into harsh reality and the cold loneliness the city life implies. The public is overwhelmed by huge buildings on a white screen almost covering the whole backside of the stage. Janssen literally let her dancers dive into these pictures and creates the illusion of being chased on a never ending road. The dancers themselves feel the cold surrounding and try to escape by finding warmth and togetherness. 
 
It is always a risk to rework a piece but Conny Janssen put there performance successfully in the context of present times. By speaking about modern time it is self-explanatory that the form of modern dance fits better than ever before. The dancers vary between pedestrian movements like walking, running and jumping and complex material containing a lot of physicality and strength. The movements resemble the strength you need to survive inside the city life. Anyways the focus of the public was put on high leg lifts and flexibility. The idea of repetitive movement material definitely fits to the concept anyways I experienced the way Janssen did it as a showing of skills that were more disturbing than a stimulating addition.  

Conny Janssen definitely succeed to set the statement the title implies: I`m here! The dancers were there, the audience was there and the space around us was full of tension through the presence of everyone.



Choreographer                                Lightdesign
Conny Janssen                               Remko van Wely

Dancers                                           Costumes
 Adi Amit                                          Babette van den Berg
Davide Bellotta
Christiaan De Donder                      Dramaturgy
Patrick Di Quirico                             Judith Wendel                       
Yoko Ono Haveman
Yanaika Holle                                   Photography and Film
Martijn Kappers                                Carel van Hees
Milang Lie Meeuw Lew
Courtney Robertson                         Repetitor
Mariko Shimoda                               Michael Jahoda
Remy Tilburg
Tuan Tran
Mitchell-lee van Rooij


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