Skatepark

Legend has it that skateboarding was born one day when low waves forced surfers onto the Los Angeles asphalt. Gliding through the streets, conquering every new obstacle, skateboarding has become a peculiar choreography. It plays over the surface of our cities, reclaiming public space in fierce movements that cut across curves and boundaries. And it holds the thrill of several dreams.

Together with a group of skaters and dancers, Mette Ingvartsen explores the speed and energy of movement on wheels – a physical memory from her own youth. More than a smooth spectacle of virtuoso feats, Skatepark marks the emergence of a community – one defined by persistence and hard work within the ongoing practice of individuals who try, fall, and push the limits of the possible, alone but together. On this journey, theatre provides a fluid framework for an encounter between a group of skaters and dancers across generations. Their repeated efforts at balancing and jumping, their boisterous interaction and clashes in shared space, form something more – an entire society we can learn from.

Premiere: April 13th 2023, Cndc – Angers (FR)

Concept & choreography: Mette Ingvartsen
With: Damien Delsaux, Manuel Faust, Aline Boas, Mary Pop Wheels, Sam Gelis, Fouad Nafili, Júlia Rúbies Subirós, Thomas Bîrzan, Briek Neuckermans, Indreas Kifleyesus, Arthur Vannes, Camille Gecchele, Mathias Thiers, Bob Aertsen and local skaters
Sound design: Anne van de Star and Peter Lenaerts
Lighting design: Minna Tiikkainen
Dramaturgy: Bojana Cvejić
Costumes: Jennifer Defays
Music: Felix Kubin, Mord Records, Why the eye, sonaBLAST! Records, Rrose, The Fanny Pads, Restive Plaggona
Scenography: Pierre Jambé/Antidote
Technical design set: Stéphane Thonnard
Construction set
: Construction workshop of Théâtre National Bruxelles: Joachim Pochet, Joachim Hesse, Pierre Jardon, Yves Philippaerts, Andrea Messana, Boyd Gates
Technical direction: Hans Meijer
Sound technicians: Milan Van Doren, Yrjänä Rankka, Filip Vilhelmsson
Lighting technicians: Bennert Vancottem, Jan-Simon De Lille
Choreographic assistant: Jacob Ingram-Dodd
Supervisor kids: Billie Meeussen, Victor Perez Hernandez
Production and administration officer: Joey Ng
Production: Oihana Azpillaga Camio
Communication: Jeroen Goffings
Management
: Ruth Collier

Production: Great Investment vzw

Coproduction: La Danse en grande forme (Cndc – Angers, Malandain Ballet Biarritz, La Manufacture CDCN Nouvelle-Aquitaine Bordeaux · La Rochelle, CCN de Caen en Normandie, L’échangeur – CDCN Hauts-de-France, CCN2 – Grenoble, La Briqueterie – CDCN du Val de Marne, CCN – Ballet national de Marseille, CCN de Nantes, CCN d’Orléans, Atelier de Paris / CDCN, Le Gymnase CDCN Roubaix – Hauts-de-France, La Place de La Danse – CDCN Toulouse – Occitanie, La MC2 – Grenoble), Ruhrtriennale, Wiener Festwochen & Tanzquartier Wien, La Villette & Théâtre Chaillot, deSingel, Kaaitheater & Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Kunstencentrum VIERNULVIER, Next Festival, Charleroi danse centre chorégraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, Theater Rotterdam, Perpodium
Supported by: Fondation d’entreprise Hermès, Wilhelm Hansen Fonden
Residency: Rosas, Charleroi danse centre chorégraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, deSingel

Great Investment is supported by: The Flemish Authorities, The Flemish Community Commission (VGC), Tax Shelter of the Belgian Federal Government & The Danish Arts Council

Texts & interviews

Press Quotes Skatepark
Skateboarding structures the worldview of those who practice it
Skatepark interview with Mette Ingvartsen

Jan 13, 2024 9:12 AM

2024

January 13 - 14 La Comédie de Clermont / As part of Festival Transforme, Clermont-Ferrand
Feb 22, 2024 9:12 AM February 22 Charleroi Danse - Les Écuries, Charleroi
Feb 23, 2024 9:12 AM February 23 Charleroi Danse - Les Écuries, Charleroi
Apr 3, 2024 9:12 AM April 3 - 4 ThéâtredelaCité – CDN Toulouse Occitanie et La Place de la Danse, Toulouse
Apr 19, 2024 9:12 AM April 19 - 21 VIERNULVIER, Ghent / as part of GIF
May 17, 2024 9:12 AM May 17 - 18 Théâtre National de Bretagne, Rennes / As part of Festival Transforme
Jul 4, 2024 9:12 AM July 4 - 6 Les Nuits de Fourvière, Festival international de la Métropole de Lyon
Jul 15, 2024 9:12 AM July 15 - 16 Julidans, Amsterdam
Jul 19, 2024 9:12 AM July 19 - 21 asphalt Festival, Dusseldorf
Aug 17, 2024 9:12 AM August 17 - 18 Tanz im August, Berlin
Aug 31, 2024 9:12 AM August 31 - September 1 Theaterfestival Basel
Sep 6, 2024 9:12 AM September 6 - 7 Mousonturm, Frankfurt
Sep 20, 2024 9:12 AM September 20 Dans in Brugge – Concertgebouw Brugge
Sep 28, 2024 9:12 AM September 28 - 29 Scène nationale Carré-Colonnes & La Manufacture CDCN / As part of FAB
Oct 26, 2024 9:12 AM October 26 - 27 Le Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg
Nov 19, 2024 9:12 AM November 19 - 20 Muffatwerk, Munich
Dec 21, 2024 9:12 AM December 21 - 22 Le Lieu Unique, Nantes
Apr 13, 2023 9:12 AM

2023

April 13 - 14 Cndc, Angers
May 4, 2023 9:12 AM May 4 la Scène nationale d'Orléans & CCN, Orléans
May 9, 2023 9:12 AM May 9 - 10 La Villette & Théâtre Chaillot, Paris
May 12, 2023 9:12 AM May 12 - 14 La Villette & Théâtre Chaillot, Paris
May 19, 2023 9:12 AM May 19 - 21 Wiener Festwochen & Tanzquartier Wien, Vienna
Jul 8, 2023 9:12 AM July 8 - 9 Festival de Marseille & Ballet national de Marseille
Aug 12, 2023 9:12 AM August 12 - 13 Ruhrtriennale, Bochum
Aug 18, 2023 9:12 AM August 18 - 20 Ruhrtriennale, Bochum
Aug 25, 2023 9:12 AM August 25 - 26 Theater Rotterdam
Sep 22, 2023 9:12 AM September 22 - 23 deSingel, Antwerp
Oct 26, 2023 9:12 AM October 26 - 28 Dansenshus, Oslo
Nov 17, 2023 9:12 AM November 17 - 19 Next Festival - La Rose des Vents & Gymnase CDCN, Roubaix
Nov 23, 2023 9:12 AM November 23 - 26 Kaaitheater & Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Brussels