Cacti

While a string quartet plays, and spoken recordings give tongue-in-cheek narration of the action, the dancers run, fall, writhe and try to escape their invisible prisons; eventually they each acquire a cactus. But what does it all mean?

World Premiere 25 February 2010, Lucent Dans theatre, Den Haag

In Cacti Ekman turns his keen eye upon the scene that birthed him: contemporary dance itself. A gleeful and knowing parody of the art form’s greater excesses, Cacti is an affectionate, pointed and often hilarious deconstruction of the affectations of dance.

Sixteen dancers stand, seemingly trapped, on oversized Scrabble tiles. While a string quartet plays, and spoken recordings give tongue-in-cheek narration of the action, the dancers run, fall, writhe and try to escape their invisible prisons; eventually – and this is the important bit – they each acquire a cactus. But what does it all mean?

Cacti was created in 2010 and is one of Ekmans most succesful pieces. It consists of 16 dancers creating rhythms together with 4 musicians live on stage.

Cacti was given as a gift from Queen beatrice of Holland to the royalties of Norway on a state visit in Oslo 2010. The piece was also nominated for the pristigeous Swan award for best new dance production in the Netherlands 2010.

Sydney Dance Company, Dresden Ballet, Dortmund Stadstheater and Boston Ballet will perform Cacti in 2013.

The Piece has been nominated for three awards. A swan award in Holland for best new dance production and for the critics circle award and an Olivier award in the UK.

Choreography Alexander Ekman
Assistant to the choreographer Urtzi Uranburu
Lighting Design Tom Visser
Costume Design Alexander Ekman
Text Spenser Theberge