If words lose their meaning, only forms are left to hold on to. THE EXACT POSITION OF THINGS is an oppressive dance performance about a woman who doesn't remember her own name. Nicole Beutler based this piece about Alzheimer's disease on Bernlef's famous book Hersenschimmen. For the tenth anniversary of her company NB Projects she puts this successful performance from 2005 on the stage again. Between estrangement and empathy, tristesse and humour Beutler shows how somebody without short-term memory slowly loses grip of reality and tries to survive by holding on to known structures.
'Especially imperfection touches me', Beutler said about the performance. 'Clumsiness, the vulnerable human being. People with Alzheimer in a home are imprisoned in a space as in their own brain. My characters never stop asking questions. They hang on and this translates itself in the body. Bodies full of stories, that's what I want to see.'
Theatre maker and choreographer Nicole Beutler was born in München but now lives and works in Amsterdam. In her varied work she addresses deeply human issues with minimal means and subtle humour.
The audience of NEXT was acquainted with her via 4: STILL LIFE (2013) and 7: Triple Moon (2017). THE EXACT POSITION OF THINGS was nominated for the BNG Theatermakersprijs and chosen as one of the five best dance pieces of the season by the prominent specialist journal De Theatermaker (TM).
CONCEPT & CHOREOGRAPHY Nicole Beutler / CO-CREATED AND PERFORMED BY Hester van Hasselt, Esther Snelder / MUSIC Gary Shepherd, Wouter Snoei / LIGHTING DESIGN Minna Tiikkainen / DRAMATURGY Robert Steijn, Igor Dobricic / SPECIAL THANKS TO Uta Eisenreich, Felix Ritter, Paz Rojo, Yriänä Ranka / PRODUCTION Nicole Beutler Projects