Nomadics by Lisbeth Gruwez & Maarten Van Cauwenberghe

In Nomadics, Voetvolk’s latest production, eight dancers explore the possibility of lending a voice to nature, the quintessential place to unwind and learn. But by which means and how do we reciprocate it? the group wonders. In a reverse portrayal, the performers assume the role of nature and depict the way it looks back at humans and suffers from their treatment. Until nature reacts: the environment and nature decide to reclaim their place by retaliating with all the calamities of natural disasters that we witness daily sweeping across the earth. With a direct reference to climate change, Nomadics and the dancers become a passing, raging landscape that whirls around. At times they transform into trees, at other times into grass, and at other moments into humans. This constant transformation results in a continuous friction and tension throughout the performance. Yet, despite the destruction, as science teaches us, friction can ultimately lead to warmth, deceleration and the making of the decision for radical change. Through exceptional movement and choreography, you will witness the dancers seeking for their connection both with nature and with each other, while music will be in strong symbiosis with dance, a hallmark of Voetvolk. Maarten Van Cauwenberghe recorded a plethora of sounds during his walks: footsteps, water, wind whistling through the trees. Even the noise of busy highways is utilized by the group as it was transformed into environmental techno music

Before the show, the dancers will take a kilometers-long walk along the New Waterfront of Thessaloniki, accompanied by any member of the audience who feels like joining them in order to observe, experience and connect with the landscape. From the stimuli and noise of the city to the tranquility, the meditation and then back again to the hustle and bustle, the dancers and the audience end their walk on the stage, where their paths will separate again and the performance will begin.