“Diffraction” is a piece for six dancers and a lighting rig. The name refers to the physical phenomenon whereby both sound and light waves are bent when they encounter an obstacle. What happens when this is applied to a motion that affects a dancer? The four female and two male dancers with whom Cindy Van Acker has developed six solo performances in recent years are brought together on stage for this piece. They come up against the inquisitive eye of light, which becomes their co-star in the form of movable neon tubes. Their bodies melt into the fluorescently lit surroundings, and it remains unclear who or what is causing the movement – the dancers or the light itself.
“Everyone who attends a Cindy Van Acker performance leaves with the feeling that they have experienced something which demanded their full attention. Her piece ‘Diffraction’ is an orchestration of movement in light and sound, a choreography for six dancers that is intense and marvellous, austere and earnest. Over the past decade, Cindy Van Acker has built up a remarkable oeuvre which has helped to raise the profile of Swiss dance way beyond our national borders.”
Cindy Van Acker
Belgian choreographer Cindy Van Acker (born 1971) danced with the Royal Ballet of Flanders before moving to Geneva, where she was hired as a dancer by the Grand Théâtre de Genève. She began to choreograph her own pieces in 1994 and launched her international career with the solo production “Corps 00:00” in 2002. In 2005, she represented Switzerland at the Theatre Biennale in Venice. She choreographed famous director Romeo Castellucci’s “Inferno” (2007) and “Parsifal” (2011).
