Broken Bob

Following the successful productions “Timeless” by Xie Xin and “I’m afraid to forget your smile” by Imre & Marne van Opstal, which was nominated for the DER FAUST 2023 theater prize, the Hessisches Staatsballett is combining the dance positions of these currently pioneering choreographers in a double bill for the first time in “Broken Bob”. Marble is created in the earth like ashes after a fire. In a long transformation, under heat and pressure, its fine lines paint themselves into the rock; they tell of the past like the black of the flames’ devouring. Traces adorn and remain. Hidden deep in the layers of being and buried in the superimposition of inner impressions, a broken sense of beauty emerges

Powerful and sublime. Rice paper, black powder and six bodies are the ingredients of Xie Xin’s new creation “Broken Sense of Beauty”. In this piece, the Chinese choreographer deals with a personal tragedy. At the latest when dance comes into play, it is all about movement. About movements and their structure. Does it exist outside of the movement that creates it? At the latest when structure comes into play, it is about systems. About systems and their meaning. Does it lie outside the system that generates it? At the latest when meaning comes into play, it’s about people. About people and about Bob. In their new creation “I am Bob”, Imre & Marne van Opstal explore the effects of patterns in dance. Working closely with music and text, the Dutch brother and sister duo create a large choreographic web of identity.