An unbelievable dance of bouncing balls

 

FedUpDay, YawnDay, Don’tWantToDay, ProcrastinationDay, NotFreeDay, TooTiredDay, Where’sTheSunDay.

Somewhere, Someone has been tasked with putting the same balls into the same crate over and over again. Someone does this day in, day out, year in, year out, and no one actually knows why. Hoping that the walls won’t collapse on Someone, Someone starts throwing the balls against the walls. And so the balls travel ever further though the space, in a way that is sometimes graceful and deceptively simple, sometimes powerful and complex. If all goes well, they land neatly in the crate.

But things don’t always go well. And how much of that ‘not-well’ can Someone take?

As the balls become so much dead weight, Someone Somewhere tries to unravel a new dimension in space and time – or is it in the mind? – in order to escape the colourless monotony. And when that works, something happens that could be called pure magic.

For Ballroom, you take a seat in a converted lorry. Inside, visual artist Lodewijk Heylen has created a concrete set in which juggler Stijn Grupping, thanks to a lot of practice and a little magic, creates an incredible dance of bouncing balls. Accompanied by the sounds of musicians Jochem Baelus and Frederik Meulyzer, he takes you on a wordless journey.

© PUH & Brecht Van Maele

Ballroom

April 2025