infini

World premiere

The latest piece of the widely acclaimed French choreographer, who riveted Athens Festival’s audiences last year with enfant, will have its world premiere at the Athens Festival. infini seeks infinity within space. Infinity is a way of getting in touch with what exists beyond us; the stage is the space allowing for this transcendence. The body seems finite, and yet human motion is above all a potential. In Charmatz’s words “I’ve always hated counting while dancing. I’ve always preferred letting my mind wander. In this piece, we count, speak and sing, and dance, but it’s only so that we can wander better…” For centuries, dancers have been counting steps up to 4, 6, or 8, and then started over. In modern choreographies, they may count in more complex ways. But what would happen if they counted to infinity? What would happen if, instead of counting to reach a goal, a measure or rhythm, they were counting the way one does when falling asleep or dying? What would happen if numbers were to mark an abandonment, a passage, an infinite metamorphosis? In this piece, performers will not stop counting. Time freezes: they won’t stop at 1989, or 2015, or 2019…

12 July / Post-performance talk with the choreographer

Audience discretion: The performance contains lighting which may potentially trigger seizures for persons with photosensitive epilepsy

Under the auspices